Hayate no Gotoku: Murder Mystery!
by Lucky Jinxe
Summary: Himura and Elena have transferred to Hakuou Academy and into Nagi/Hayate's class. The couple are not as normal as they seem, other than appearing to be visions of perfection to the class; and things get worse when a murder takes place before Hinagiku.
1. Prologue

**Note **This is the 'sequel' to my CCS fanfiction: 'Spirits of the West'. The only connections are the villain(s) will be serving the same side and Himura and Elena were in 'Spirits of the West', otherwise there is no connection, so this is not a crossover.

In this fanction I will be trying my hand at a murder mystery, or thriller writing. I have a vague plan in my head which I'll need to work on a little. And if possible, I'll blow it completely out of proportion into a Harlan Coben scale investigation because that would suit Hayate no Gotoku's out of proportion events! In any case, enjoy the prologue and read on if you're interested!

**P**rologue

"Morning, Hayata-kun!" The school council trio cheered, waving cheerfully at Sanzenin Nagi and her butler, Ayasaki Hayate, as the two entered the classroom.

Hayate was the same age as most people in the class, the correct age, as it were. Nagi was a full three years younger and it showed, she was over a foot shorter than her butler but she made up with this difference in sheer ego.

It was a rare occurrence for Nagi to show up at school. She often stayed at home, a huge mansion on an equally gigantic estate in the middle of Tokyo and slouched off indulging in 'nerdy' activities such as reading manga, watching anime and playing video games all day.

The circumstances in which the debt ridden Hayate had come into Nagi's service were still in confusion; and often the events of their meeting cause a great deal of confusion; although more a case of frustration on Nagi's part.

For Hayate, after being dumped with the gigantic debt his parents had accumulated, had escape from the Yakuza and planned to kidnap Nagi. He had confronted her and she had mistaken his words for a confession of love. Hayate, being a kind hearted soul, had failed to kidnap Nagi, revealing who he was upon calling to demand a ransom; but then Nagi had been kidnapped for real and Hayate had saved her, showing inhuman abilities like being able to catch up to a car speeding at 80km/h on a bicycle and then being run over by said car.

Nagi, in return for him saving her and for wanting this boy she had now fallen deeply in love with close to her, had allowed Hayate to stay in her mansion as her new butler. After another series of confusing events, Hayate was instead indebt to Nagi rather than the Yakuza and so stays on as her butler, even though he would not leave the position if the debt did not exist.

Their homeroom teacher, a drunken slob named Katsura Yukiji, entered the room bawling out something about everyone getting into their seats. The class did so slowly and reluctantly, ignoring her rantings about punishment for not listening to her. At last attendance was taken; and then the Yukiji snapped the homeroom folder shut and grinned up all at them smugly, the expression she wore when she was about to reveal a secret, or something she felt was a secret.

"A'right listen up! We've got a pair of new students coming in today. I know it's weird since it's the middle of school but there you have it. They're both from England, one perfect, handsome, blonde haired and blue eyed pretty boy and a pretty, blonde haired and blue eyed girl." The class buzzed with excitement and Nagi leaned forwards so that Hayate could hear her.

"Don't get any ideas!" She warned viciously. Another twist to their relationship was that Nagi thought of Hayate as her boyfriend, whereas Hayate had no clue of Nagi's feelings, what his words on their first meeting had been understood as and so often caused Nagi to become enraged with his actions towards other girls. He answered reassuringly.

"Don't worry, milady. I didn't have any ideas to begin with!" Nagi, not satisfied but at least her warning had been given, sat back with a resentful look on her face.

"Hey, teacher, is the girl single?" A guy yelled.

"Is the guy really that cute?" A girl asked. A lot of the class were screaming out similar question and Yukiji stood there soaking it all in. Despite being a slob and having an extreme personality, she was well loved by her students and understood them quite well.

"Sorry to shatter all you dreams but I believe they're a couple." Yukiji finally said and the shattering of multiple dreams was almost audible. "Well, stop waiting outside and come in!" The teacher called and the door slid open. Now sullen but still inquisitive eyes swerved to stare at the door, waiting for the first glimpse of these mysterious new classmates.

* * *

The boy, tall by any standard, walked into the room to stand beside the desk, a kind but slightly mischievous smile playing on his lips. The smile reached his eyes and his entire face seemed to beam happiness at the class but yet with a subtlety that was relaxing and gave off an aura of trustworthiness. As advertised, the boy was handsome with short, wavy blonde locks that were arranged perfectly and warm blue eyes and a well toned body. At first glance he seemed to be a perfect WASP, a social 'elite' in America from rich families, the perfect pretty boy; but his face had a softer look to it and his body was more solid than the typical WASP candidate.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Imanda Himura. I live in England but have transferred here for a while. I give my regards to our future education together." The speech was formal and yet casual, even through his impeccable Japanese the English accent was audible with a touch of upper class mixed in; but lacking pompousness. The girls in the class practically swooned and the smile he flashed broke the last barriers of self restraint before lust. Before the girls could cry out their undying love to this Englishman, the girl entered.

The girl was also tall; but still a good half a foot shorter than Himura. Her blonde hair almost shimmered as she walked, slightly curled as it reached down to her knees. Her face was, in a word, stunning. Even without the dazzling smile and sparkling blue eyes the girl was beautiful beyond what most world class models could ever hope to achieve. An angel, some would say. Like the boy next to her face radiated a calm warmth and friendly feeling. Besides her startling good looks the girl was in good shape. Numerous slang words such as 'fit', 'tight', 'hot' would be words used to describe her, if viewed in a perfectly objective way. While the girl was not as well endowed as some members of the class, she was certainly not lacking. In a bundle, the boy and girl spoke of perfection.

"Good morning. I am Mithran Elena. I too come from England and will be learning here with you all for a short time. I hope we all get along." Elena smiled warmly at the class and now it was the boys' turn to swoon. The girls glared daggers enviously at Elena and were dazzled by Himura, the boys the reverse. Human nature dictated that when faced with perfection one would immediately resent it to put it down to protect oneself.

The only person in the class who seemed completely unaffected was Nagi who now seemed something more than interested in the two new arrivals. She was smiling as if she saw something in the two that no one else could see; and it seemed to be the same for the reverse as Elena and Himura both met Nagi's eyes briefly but firmly.

"Let's see. Himura-kun, you can go sit over there next to Ayasaki and Elena-chan, you can sit next to Nagi-chan." Yukiji said, pointing at the vacant seats. The two nodded and left for their seats, sitting down. Hayate turned to his new neighbour and tried not to notice the envious glares.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ayasaki Hayate." Hayate said, nervous and not entirely what to say. Himura put his bag down on the floor and held a hand out.

"Nice to meet you, Hayate. Please, call me Himura. I hope we can be friends, eh?" Himura said as Hayate shook the boy's offered hand and Himura flashed the butler a smile. "Then again, we'll be seeing a fair bit of each other in the near future." He said. Hayate nodded and smiled back, warming to this friendly boy. They would be sitting next to each other from now on, right?

Behind them, a similar exchange was taking place.

"I didn't think I'd be sitting next to you Nagi-chan. Take good care of me." Elena said and Nagi nodded.

"It's quite helpful you get to sit next to me, it makes things easier for after school." Nagi said.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay in your mansion. We're really not sure what we would have done otherwise." Elena said, Nagi nodded again. Her upper class aura was turned on full, trying desperately not to fall to this overwhelming beauty and friendly aura.

"It's nothing." She mumbled. Elena smiled at her awkwardness and then the class was interrupted by Yukiji who was now starting their first class.

* * *

I was lunch time and the two newcomers were surrounded by their classmates before the last bell toll had even echoed away.

Questions were bounced off the two as if they were celebrities and they sat in their seats (not being able to do much else with all the attention) and tried to answer as many questions as they could before a torrent of more overwhelmed the already odd inquiries.

"So you come from England? That's so cool!"

"You speak really upper class, even for here. Are you really rich or something?"

"How long are you staying here?"

"If you don't know your way around here just ask!"

"Are you two going out?" The last, hesitant question made everyone silent. It had been the question they all wanted to know the answer too and the class all leaned in almost crushingly on Himura and Elena as if the answer might somehow be lost over the slightly longer distance. Himura and Elena shared a fond look before looking around at the class.

"Yes." They said together and the class nearly collapsed in despair. Taking advantage of the momentary freedom, Himura stood up.

"Ellie and I need to go see the School Council President, apparently we need to meet her since we came at such an odd time." He said, suddenly he was gentle but firm authority and there were no more swarming questions. Elena turned to Nagi.

"Nagi-chan, can you show us to the School Council Office?" She asked. Nagi sighed and stood up, pushing her chair back.

"If you're that helpless then I guess I've got no choice." She said, trying to sound grudging. Hayate stood up too.

"I'll come as well, milady." He said, Nagi glared suspiciously at Hayate. She was worried that he might too fall for this dazzling beauty Elena; but decided not to deny him.

"Fine then. Come on, I don't have all day." She said, trying for cold but not quite reaching it. Himura and Elena shared another glance, this one full of amusement, before following Nagi and Hayate. Nagi stayed a few paces ahead with Elena while Hayate stayed with Himura. They chatted about not much and somehow Hayate found himself talking about his past. Himura listened without saying anything, nodding with understanding eyes.

"It seems you've had a hard life." He said when Hayate finished and gave the boy a sad smile. "Still, Nagi-chan gave you a new life so you must have some luck." Himura said and Hayate looked forwards, his gaze falling on Nagi who was talking to Elena, her weak façade of distance having broken. There was admiration raw in her eyes as she spoke to this seemingly perfect older girl. Himura's words had rung true; although Hayate had never thought about it in that way and he smiled. He had known Himura less than half a day and the boy had already given him a stronger outlook on his life.

"Here, this lift takes us up to the Office. Usually only School Council members can go up but most everyone seems to ignore that rule." Nagi said, pressing the button for the top floor. The large elevator rose up, speeding towards the top floor. Halfway up Elena and Himura both winced at the same time and glanced at each other, it had been very noticeable compared to their usual demeanour and mistress and butler looked at them.

"What's wrong?" Nagi asked, Elena and Himura looked at each other again, nodding silent agreement.

"Someone just died… from up here and someone else is hurt." Elena said.

"How do you know?" Hayate asked, a mixture of shock, worry and intrigue battling inside him. The School Council President was someone he counted as a close friend and Elena's words had made him worry.

"Ellie and I are a little different to your standard person. You are a butler, you're a special human with special powers. Ellie and I are like you, special humans with special powers." Himura said shortly, anxiously watching the lights move up, showing the rise of the elevator. It seemed tauntingly slow. Nagi's eyes were bright as stars now, the death temporarily forgotten.

"You guys have powers? Like out of manga or anime?" She asked like a, well, like a schoolgirl.

"You could say that." Elena said with a strained laugh. The lift finally stopped and the doors opened slowly, so slowly. Himura jammed his hands into the gap between the doors and shoved them open with monstrous force, forcing the doors fully open. He bounded out of the lift with Elena beside him and the other two close behind. The two foreigners were showing amazing athletic skill, moving with speed and amazing grace.

Himura and Elena yanked the doors to the office open together and they were all momentarily blinded by the real sunlight glaring from the open balcony. The four rushed into the room, looking around. Elena founded the girl first.

"Himie, over here!" She called, vaulting over the desk and crouching behind it. Himura rushed around the side, shortly joined by the other two to find a pink haired and beautiful girl lying in Elena's arms. She winced, grimaced in pain and her eyes half opened, saw blurred shapes above her and then opened all the way open, blinking away the blur.

"What…." She mumbled. There was a small trickle of red, sticky liquid down the girl's face from her right temple. Elena glanced at Himura who nodded his assent. Elena held a hand to the girl's temple and it seemed to glow green. Nagi's eyes widened in amazement and she leaned in close, Hayate watched with concern.

"What are you doing? What is that glow?" Nagi asked. Elena didn't look up.

"I'm healing her injury, this is healing magic. One of my abilities. This is the School Council President, right?" She asked. Hayate nodded.

"Katsura Hinagiku-san. I wonder what happened?" He said, concerned. Nagi shot him a glare; and then Hinagiku's semi-conscious mumble gave the glare strength.

"Hayate-kun…."

"You two, give Ellie some room and look at this." Himura said, Nagi gave up her glare, leaving Hayate confused and half admonished, to turn to the boy's call. A chair had been overturned and part of the sliding window leading to the balcony had been shattered. There was red dripping from the jagged glass and there drips of the same liquid amongst the glass shards.

Himura ran out on to the balcony with a sinking feeling.

"Ellie and I felt someone die. That means…." He looked over the edge and closed his eyes briefly before turning away from the edge. "Whoever did this to the President also did something else… they threw someone off the balcony." He said. Hayate and Nagi rushed out to look down to see a crumpled body lying on the floor far below, a small crowd assembling around it, screams could be heard. There was a large cracked crater around the body.

"What could have happened?" Hayate asked. Himura sighed and walked inside, sitting on a sofa and rubbing his face with his hands.

"Someone was thrown of the balcony. Looks like there was a struggle, judging by the glass and the President was knocked out during the attack. I see no signs of forced entry but besides the stairs the lift is the only way up or down; and the killer will have already vanished by now. We'll just have to rely on the President's memory of the perpetrator when she wakes up."


	2. Chapter 1

**C**hapter 1

"There's some trouble at school? A murder? I'll prepare dinner for later then." Maria, Nagi's maid, said into the phone. She hung up and sighed, worried. There hadn't been any kind of death or murder at Hakuou Academy that she knew of and as Nagi had been one of those who had found the body, they were immediately suspects. Still, as the heir of the richest family in the world, it wouldn't be hard to clear the charges; but Hayate was another question. He was a butler with a gigantic debt from a poor background; he would immediately be a star suspect.

* * *

Back at the school the police spread out in the office, dusting for finger prints and photographing the scene. The four students sat on the sofa while a detective asked them a few questions. Hinagiku had been taken to the school nurse's office until she woke up.

"Okay, so let me just read back what I've got down from you. You entered the room and found the place as it is now?" The police officer asked, Himura shook his head.

"No, nearly as it was. We moved the President from where she had been lying so we could take better care of her while we waited for you to arrive. Ellie can show you where she was lying, if that would help you." Himura said, glancing at Elena. Elena was about the same size as Hinagiku so it made sense for her to act in the missing girl's place to show the scene more accurately.

"I'm not sure the placement makes much difference to what happened. Our scenario is that the criminal entered the room, knocked out the President and fought with the victim before throwing her over the balcony." The detective said, Himura thought for a moment. Somehow he had become the spokesman for the group having naturally assumed command of the situation and was still in authority while they were being questioned.

"But there are problems with your scenario. We don't know if the perpetrator was someone the victim and the President knew. That would change a great deal, it would explain why the President was lying by her desk, she was probably surprised. If that's the case then the President might be able to identify the criminal; but there's the rule about how only school council members are allowed up here. If that's the case then there aren't that many suspects; and if they weren't then they'd have to have had an appointment booked like we did, unless they came up unannounced but it'd be an idea to look into who could have been up here without breaking any rules." Himura said, the officer nodded. He was in his mid thirties but was listening to the sixteen year old's council and was even taking notes.

"Well, we'll investigate a bit more but it seems everything relies on the President's memory so all we can really do is wait until she wakes up." The officer said, standing up and nodding his thanks to the group. One of the junior officers called him over and pointed to something on the floor and spoke to him, motioning towards the desk.

"This might be a little more difficult to handle than our past adventures, Himie." Elena said quietly and Himura nodded.

"This time we can only use our brains. I'm sure it's that outside influence we felt earlier that's the cause of this, in which case it's going to be hard to find this person." He answered. Nagi and Hayate were talking to each other so didn't hear the small exchange, which was for the best.

"Okay, you can go now; but we made need you to recount what happened again later so don't go far." The officer said, Himura nodded and gave his thanks and then they left the office.

"It's weird that Hinagiku just got beaten that easily though." Nagi said once they were in the lift. They all turned to her and she shrugged. "Hinagiku's a pretty good fighter, especially with a sword. I didn't think she'd be beaten so easily." Himura and Elena shared a glance and nodded.

"She wasn't just knocked out." Elena said, gaining Nagi's and Hayate's confused attention.

"But she was just lying behind her desk, she can't have been fighting or she'd be someone else in the room." Hayate pointed out. Himura took that one.

"She was moved there. The chair had been shoved to the side and besides, remember that injury on her head? There was a shard of glass in the wound." He looked to Elena who nodded her confirmation.

"So what, the glass was shattered and it hurt Hinagiku-san?" Hayate asked doubtfully but the other three all shook their heads.

"It means she was near the glass when it shattered, Hayate." Nagi explained.

"It's possible she was the one who was pushed through it, judging by the size of the hole; and if you look at how the glass is broken it's shattered inside. If the attacker had been pushing the victim outside…."

"Then the glass would be outside on the balcony." Elena finished the thought for Himura.

"Why didn't you tell the police that?" Hayate demanded.

"I was wondering about that too, you were obviously hiding it. You didn't tell them about how Hinagiku had been bleeding rather than just having a bruise." Nagi said. Elena glanced at Himura again, she had her thoughts on it but Himura had been the one to lie without consulting the others.

"Ellie healed Hinagiku's wound. They wouldn't believe us about her powers until she gave them a demonstration which; the problems that would proceed that aside, would then put suspicion on us. It's suspicious that we arrived just after the attack, even though we had an appointment to see the President. Linked with how it could be construed that we were hiding evidence of the attack, we would be key suspects." Himura explained, Elena summed it up afterwards.

"Basically, we'd all be investigated and possibly arrested. Whoever did this was most likely trying to frame all of us for whatever reason. Himie and I could get off easily enough; and so could Nagi-chan with her connections and wealth; but the police would go after you, Hayate-kun." Elena said and they all turned to Hayate.

"Me? Why?" He asked, confused.

"You're poor and have a huge debt… they'd immediately suspect you." Nagi said, now thinking out loud herself. Himura and Elena nodded.

"I didn't lie as much for us as for you, Hayate. We need to investigate this ourselves to find out who did this and provide proof of who did it. My lie will hold out only so long before they start looking at us again for possible suspects. The evidence won't quite hold up and you'll be the suspect again. We can provide you with an alibi, as you were with us; but for now we want to be able to move without any suspicion at all." Himura said, the lift doors pinged open and they all stepped out.

"Go to lunch as usual. Ellie and I will go check up on the President, we'll see you in class or come find you later if needs be." Himura said and they split up into two groups. As the two foreigners walked through the school's corridors they drew attention from all those around them but walked as if they were just normal students and didn't notice the stares.

"Just like usual, huh?" Elena asked and Himura laughed, nodding.

"It's a shame you're so damn pretty, can't go anywhere without being glared at." He said teasingly and it was Elena's turn to laugh.

"You're one to talk. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'" Elena quoted and Himura shrugged.

"Well, got to get used to it sometime. It's the same back home anyway." He pointed out and the couple kept on walking, now arm in arm.

* * *

"Milady, am I really going to be a suspect?" Hayate asked nervously as he poured Nagi's tea from the trolley. Nagi nodded.

"It's a possibility. But not to worry! We'll find out who really did it; although the police might arrest you for a while." As usual completely ignorant the effect her words had had, Nagi stared off into the sky while Hayate practically shook with nerves.

"By the way, Hayate, those two are staying with us at the mansion." She said, sneaking a glance at Himura to see his reaction to this news. She was still suspicious of Hayate's reaction to Elena but she saw no obvious blush and so was pleased.

"Really? It'll be good to have some other people around the mansion, it's so quiet usually." Hayate asked, handing the cup and saucer to Nagi who took it and sipped daintily from the cup.

"Well, as long as there isn't too much noise it'll be good." She said.

"Milady, why are you letting them stay at the mansion, though? We only just met them." Hayate asked, intrigue getting the better of him. Nagi sighed and placed the cup on the saucer.

"I met those two nearly four years ago. They didn't know where they were but protected me from a kidnapping so I said if they needed help then they could ask me when they were around. They phoned the mansion yesterday and asked if they could stay with us for a while." She began drinking again, the story now told.

* * *

"Nagi-chan's still the same." Elena said fondly and Himura nodded, smiling at the memory of the young girl they had rescued, properly offering a reward for saving her. "I'm not sure we should have the involved in the war when it comes to it, though." Elena said quietly and Himura nodded again.

"They're not suited to fighting. Hayate is the one with some battle skill but it's not the right type. We'll see when it comes to it, perhaps some of their enemies will show up?" He suggested, not really convinced himself. They arrived at the infirmary and poked their heads around the corner. Elena knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, is the President awake yet?" she asked the nurse who answered their arrival.

"Yes, she came to about ten minutes ago. The police left shortly after, I told them she wasn't ready to be asking questions yet. There are some little scratches down her back with some glass in them. She'll have to take it easy for a couple of days but there's no permanent damage." The nurse said as she escorted them to Hinagiku's bed. She was sitting in bed, propped up against some pillows and reading a notebook, doing her work as the school council president even just after being assaulted. She looked up to see the two foreigners and smiled, gesturing at the visitor chairs next to her bed.

"I'm sorry our meeting is a little delayed, some things happened." She said as the two sat down. Unlike most of the girls in the school she hadn't reacted in the slightest to Himura and Elena, completely composed.

"We were the ones who found you, actually." Elena said, sitting down.

"The police don't really suspect us, yet. We threw them off the track a little but they'll come back to you to ask for what really happened and we'll be suspects, I would imagine." Himura said, not wasting time with pleasantries. Hinagiku looked a little confused.

"Suspect you? You find me after the attack so how could they suspect you?" She asked.

"The first ones to find the victims are always under a degree of suspicion; and the situation was set up to frame the ones who found you. First of all, you were found by your desk." This confused Hinagiku further, she had awoken in the infirmary so she didn't know any of this, the police had told her nothing.

"But I remember passing out on the balcony." Something crossed her face as she remembered that she hadn't been alone in the room. "What about Nena-chan? She was in the room with me when it came." She looked around her as if to see the girl in the infirmary as well, which would be a logical response. Himura and Elena looked at each other sadly, working out how best to break the news.

"She was thrown over the balcony." Himura finally said. Hinagiku stared at them, not understanding.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice quaking, tears coming to her eyes. Elena moved in, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"She died from the fall." Himura said gently. Tears began to roll down Hinagiku's cheeks but she shook her head and wiped them away furiously, composing herself and looking up at them.

"What happened?" She demanded. They had to tread gently here, Hinagiku was upset and barely in control of herself at that moment.

"That's what we need to know. You were moved to your desk to make it look like someone you knew had come into the room, knocked you out and then thrown the other girl over the balcony, pushing her through the window first. It was set up to frame Ayasaki Hayate. We need to know what you remember about the attacker, the police will make a scenario where he's the culprit soon enough so we have to investigate and move suspicion off him as quickly as possible." Himura spoke gently but urgently. He had to make Hinagiku understand how important it was that they work this all out; and he was successful, the girl nodded her understanding.

"Okay." She said, sniffing slightly and rubbing her eyes as she sorted through her memories. "He came over the balcony, or he was waiting outside, I don't know. Nena-chan was out on the balcony and she noticed him. I couldn't go out, I'm afraid of heights so I can't stand going onto the balcony. All I heard was a scream and I saw him throw her over the balcony, I grabbed my kendo sword, I keep one in the office since I'm head of the kendo club." She paused, taking a breath.

"Just one thing, you're sure they were male?" Himura asked, Hinagiku shook her head.

"I'm not sure; but it just seemed like a boy. I think he was our age, going by his height and build but I could be wrong; although he was wearing our school uniform. I rushed out to fight him but he was so fast, he dodged and pushed me towards the balcony. I looked over the side and that was it, really. I nearly passed out but he didn't push me over like Nena-chan. He grabbed me and threw me back inside. I went through the window, I remember it shattering. I don't remember much after I went through the window, I must have really passed out after that." Hinagiku stopped, her tale over.

"What about their face, did you see it?" Elena asked, Hinagiku shook her head.

"No, they were wearing a mask like you see on those crime shows, one with just a hole for eyes and a mouth."

"Do you remember the colour of the eyes? Do you remember any significant physical traits?" Elena tried; but Hinagiku shook her head again.

"He was just the same as just about any boy our age. Sorry, I just can't think of anything that might help identify him."

"That's okay. You just rest and recover. The police will probably ask you the same questions as us before long and just tell them what you remember. Holding anything back will make it seem like you're trying to protect Hayate-kun." Elena said. Himura nodded at her and they both stood up.

"Thanks, this has helped a lot. We'll clear Hayate easily now." Himura said.

"It's going to be hard to prove who did it. It won't be hard to prove it wasn't Hayate-kun but we'll need to keep an eye out, they might come back." Elena said. She and Himura nodded to each other, this conversation had been very useful.

"You stay here and rest, Hinagiku-chan. We'll work something out, you just work on getting better as quickly as you can." Elena said and Hinagiku nodded and smiled weakly.

"You two only just got here and you're already covering for him. You must've really taken a liking to him straightaway, huh?" She said, leaning back with a wince onto the pillows.

"I guess it's just in our nature to help people. Kind of like you." Himura said; and then they left the infirmary.


	3. Chapter 2

**C**hapter 2

"So what did Hinagiku say?" Nagi demanded. They were walking home now, Hayate pushing a bicycle along beside him. Elena filled them in on what Hinagiku had said.

"So how does that help us? The person was masked so the police will say it could have been Hayate; and Hinagiku said it was probably a boy so it's even worse!" Nagi exclaimed, Elena shook her head and gestured for Himura to explain.

"First off, Hinagiku-san doesn't remember anything unusual, any specific traits of the culprit. That means it's not someone she knows well, otherwise she would've noticed something. It's a bit of a weak argument; but then there's the uniform. The attacker was wearing a boy's uniform. That would point to the assailant being male; although that could be to throw us off. The most important thing is that they were wearing a school uniform, Hayate wears a butler's uniform therefore it could not have been him, link that with his alibi of being with us and he's safe."

The turned a corner, the massive expanse of the estate before them; but they were midway down the west side, the entrance was at the south so there was still a great deal of walking still to be done.

"Why would anyone try to frame in the first place?" Hayate asked, worried. He couldn't think of anyone who would try and frame him for a murder, he hadn't hurt anyone or made any enemies that he knew of.

"There could be several reasons. One of them being you're Nagi-chan's butler and they're really after Nagi-chan and her estate, or perhaps someone who's after your position? Who knows? In any case, we can clear your name easily enough but we still need to find the actual assailant. Once they figure out their attempt to frame you didn't work out they may go after their main target directly, or take care of the president who would be a loose end. We have no idea until we know their motive."

The finally arrived at the gates to the mansion and they swung open after a brief exchange over the intercom with Maria. They wondered up the drive, Elena and Himura glancing around them.

"It hasn't changed too much since we were last here." Himura commented. The mansion's double doors swung open and Maria stood there, waving them in.

"Welcome back. You didn't have any problems, did you?" She asked with a polite smile.

"The police just left us alone for a while. It's just like on TV, they never realise anything for ages because they're mindless pawns." Nagi said, walking inside. Himura and Elena both winced and gave Maria sympathetic looks.

"I've prepared some rooms for you upstairs, both are opposite separate bathrooms. If you need any help you just need to call; although we'll be waiting on Nagi most of the time." Maria said, Himura and Elena smiled their thanks.

"Oh don't worry about us. It's very kind of you to let us stay here in the first place. We'll try and help out where we can." Himura said. Elena continued, forestalling Maria's protests about them being guests.

"It would be most ungrateful of us to not help out in some way." She said. The smiling faces gave no way for argument and Maria relented.

"Thank you then. I'll show you to your rooms then." She led them up the stairs and to their rooms which were next to each other with bathrooms directly opposite. The two entered their own rooms, huge things with gigantic four poster beds and oversized furniture everywhere. Himura put his suitcase down on the bed and opened it, dug around inside it and found a very high-tech looking mobile phone and pressed a speed dial button before holding the device to his ear.

"Ah, Himura my friend. How's your progress?" Sir Bryan's voice came through the phone, warm but slightly strained.

"We've just arrived at the second world. It seems they've tried to frame the hero for a crime so we'll have to use our wits on this one. How are the preparations going, Bryan?" He asked, having heard the strain in his old friend's voice. There was a chuckle on the other end of the line.

"You never miss a thing. There's the usual bickering and whatnot but we're getting there. We're setting up defences outside each portal which will maximise coordination between our forces and the standard militaries; but I doubt they intend to just swarm through the portals. I'm sure they'll open new ones. We're running out of time but you should be able to finish your tasks before we have to pull everyone back to man the positions." Bryan gave Himura some more details regarding the preparations before they both hung up. Himura sat on the bed and looked down at the phone in his hands, not really seeing or thinking anything.

Finally he stood up and left his room and wondered around the building, remembering the layout from somewhere deep in his memory. He found his way to the 'living' room and pushed the already ajar door open. Nagi was sitting on a sofa sipping from a cup of tea, changed into more casual clothes. Hayate stood in his butler uniform by a trolley with various apparatus and boxes on it for making excessively pure tea. Elena sat opposite Nagi and was drinking a bottle of J2O. She too had changed into a white blouse and a pale blue petticoat with a medium length purple skirt.

"You haven't changed yet, Himie?" Elena asked, drinking again from the bottle. Usually it would be against all the rules of etiquette to do so but somehow she made it look graceful and posh. Himura sat down next to her with a sigh.

"Not yet, I just got off the phone with Bryan anyway. I was thinking over what we know so far." Himura said. Maria was dusting a large bureau nearby and overheard, looking up. The conversation was becoming a bit more serious and getting to the heart of the matter.

"Here are the key facts, as I see them." Hayate began, leaning back and stretching his arms across the back of the sofa, crossing his right ankle over his left knee. Maria stopped cleaning and came to stand on the other side of Nagi. "Point one: The assailant somehow got onto the balcony without either the president or the victim knowing. We don't know if they climbed up onto the balcony somehow or if they arrived there earlier on.

"Point two: The assailant was wearing the boy's uniform and Hinagiku-san assumed it was a boy from their size and stature so we can safely assume that it was indeed a boy and not a girl who is the culprit.

"Point three: The attacker wore a mask, as Hinagiku-san described it I would imagine it to be a black ski mask, typical of criminals when committing crimes with digital surveillance nearby. However; the criminal obviously did not want to be seen, so we might assume they intended to let at least one of the girls live.

"Point four: The culprit knew about the president's fear of heights. It seems to me that they dodged her attack on purpose and then pushed her towards the edge to unbalance her. This means that they probably knew about her weakness and exploited it, so they either did their research and this was carefully planned or it's someone that knows the president.

"Point five: The president is pulled away from the balcony rather than pushed over it by the attacker, indeed he stops her from going over. He plainly wanted to have one of the girls alive so this may tie in with the fact he was wearing a mask; and if Hinagiku-san did know this person then all the more reason to wear a mask although she didn't recognise any obvious personal traits. This leads to me believe that the attacker either aimed to kill Nena but did not want to kill the president, or was simply setting Hayate up.

"Point six: Once knocked out the president is dragged over to the desk. This is obviously to make it seem as if the culprit were a person that the president knew and surprised her."

"Ah; but surely the attacker knew that Hinagiku-chan would remember the attack and therefore nullify that theory? Also the culprit must have known about the injuries caused by the glass? It was obvious someone was knocked inside through the glass as it's in the room rather than on the balcony." Elena interrupted, pointing out the faults the theory they had come up with.

"That's been bothering me too. Maybe the culprit didn't think it through or didn't have time to set the scene up properly before escaping?" Himura suggested, Elena looked doubtful. "I'm grabbing at straws here. We've got a lot of facts here but it doesn't point to anyone just yet. There's no clear motive yet, we need to look into it more. Let me just point out the last thing: There is no sign of the assailant in the room when we enter and the lift is the only way up. How exactly did the attacker get out of the room after committing the crime?"

That point stumped them all and Himura smiled knowingly.

"This leads me back to point one of how did they enter? I think we can all agree that they did not use the lift to get into the room. The staircase is locked to stop people getting into the office that way, I checked. However, the floor below is not closed off. It is simply used for storage and the rest of it is the stairwell and the elevator shaft. It wouldn't be so much of a long shot to say the attacker took the stairs or the elevator up to this floor, climbed out the window and onto the balcony and escaped the same way." Himura leaned back again, having been gesturing as he spoke, with a smile on his face.

"So we know how they got in. How does that help you work out who the attacker was?" Maria asked, Himura glanced at Nagi and waved a hand at her.

"I do believe Nagi-chan is bursting to tell you why it's a good thing to know where the attacker went."

"Fingerprints!" Nagi practically exploded as she cried the word out.

"How do you plan on getting fingerprints?" Maria asked, the voice of reason once again. Nagi looked momentarily stumped by this problem.

"You can buy little kits from loads of stores. All you need is some kind of dusty material really. Even flour will do to some extent." Himura explained, uncrossing his legs and leaning forwards; resting his elbows on his thighs and steepling his fingers.

"But I don't hold out much hope for that. The killer has gone through so much effort that they won't have left fingerprints. They either wore gloves or would have wiped the place down. Either way, we'll need to find other evidence." Himura glanced at Elena who had been silent most of the time, allowing her to think it all over. After a few moments' silence she spoke.

"I think, to begin with, we shouldn't stop the police from making claims against Hayate-kun." She said slowly. Suddenly everyone but Himura was protesting.

"What? But won't he go to jail then?" Nagi demanded.

"I agree, it seems to serve no purpose to let Hayate-kun be arrested." Maria said in concern. Hayate didn't seem like he could say anything.

"If we get Hayate-kun off the hook then the killer might try and tie off loose ends, that or go for whatever their real target is. We still don't know their motive so it would be dangerous to directly foil their plan until we know more. Once we know their plan then we can safely remove any allegations against Hayate-kun; but we should wait so we can avoid unnecessary casualties." Elena said, biting her lip in thought, making some of this up as she went along. Himura took it up, giving her time to think again.

"I agree with Ellie; but if we investigate fast enough then it won't come to that. First of all, we need to check out that escape route. I expect it's a dead end but it's still something that should be checked out. Second, we need to look into the victim's background. It's possible she had enemies and this boy simply wanted revenge and tried to place the blame on Hayate to draw attention away from himself." Himura stopped, letting Elena take over again.

"We'll need to check with Hinagiku-chan again. I'm sure there are people who have a grudge against her and I think the victim was her friend. If we go with our original theory and that someone's trying to frame Hayate-kun, we'll need to check out any possible enemies you have to. The one other motive I can think of is that it's an indirect way of getting to Nagi-chan, there must be a lot of people after the estate and this could be an attempt to take it. It's only a vague connection but we should still look into it." Elena looked to Himura who nodded, again taking the spotlight.

"So we need to investigate the victim, find any possible enemies for the president; you, Hayate; and you, Nagi. We need to ensure that the escape route really is a dead end and otherwise, there's not much else we can do. We have to step carefully so as not to attract attention, from the police or the killer. I hate to say it; but we have little to go on so we have to just wait until something else jumps out at us." Himura said, sighing and leaning back into the sofa, crossing his arms.

"We're in a rather sticky situation, aren't we? The easiest thing would be to go to the police and prove Hayate-kun isn't the killer; but we might endanger other people by doing so." Maria said, summing up the meeting.

"Don't worry! We can definitely solve this mystery. I've watched all those detective shows and read all that manga, it'll be a cinch!" Nagi said confidently but it only caused Maria to sigh at the girl's show of naivety.

"Actually, Maria-san, you'd be surprised how accurate those shows can be. Sure, there's a lot of rubbish in there but some of the fundamentals are there, the same for books, although if you're talking about Conan the Detective then I don't think that would be such a good thing to follow." Elena said, smiling. Himura stood up, stretching.

"I think I'll change out of this uniform. We can think on this another time, worrying our heads unduly over it now won't accomplish anything. For now let's just relax and see what tomorrow brings, eh?"


	4. Chapter 3

**C**hapter 3

Hayate walked down the main hall towards the master bedroom of the house. He stopped outside and knocked on the door before calling out loudly to the occupant.

"Milady! It's morning!" He waited a few moments before: "I'm coming in!" He opened the door and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. The great white tiger, Nagi's 'cat', slept at the foot of the bed. Hayate ignored him and marched over to the bed where Nagi had turned over as if to show she hadn't heard his wake up call. He whipped the blanket away and Nagi sat up with a cry.

"What're you doing?" She screamed before blinking when she realised it was Hayate and rubbed her eyes. "Oh it's you, Hayate. Is it morning already?" She asked, glancing out the window and stretching with a yawn.

"Yes it is, milady. Maria-san will be along in a few minutes to help you get ready for school." Hayate said, neatly folding the blanket at the end of the bed for Maria to unroll over the mattress once Nagi had been cajoled off to wash and get dressed for the new day. To say Nagi was not a morning person would be equivalent to saying Africa was moderately large in comparison to the island of Jersey.

His morning rounds done, Hayate left and wandered down to the living room. There was a large table in the centre of the room where they often ate, as the dining room was too large for Nagi's tastes. Maria had already prepared breakfast and it sat on a warming trolley, ready to be eaten at any time; but unlike usual Hayate was not the first one in the room.

"Good morning, Hayate-kun." He turned to find Elena sitting in one of the armchairs, legs crossed with a cup of tea between her hands. She smiled sweetly and took a sip from her cup.

"Good morning." Hayate managed to respond, flustered. Although he felt nothing in particular towards this girl; and the knowledge that she was paired with Himura would further deter anyone from making romantic advances on Elena, she was still a vision of beauty and perfection that even the most moral man could not ignore.

"The mistress is not up yet?" Elena asked, although it was clear she already knew the answer.

"I've just woken milady up; Maria-san will help her get ready for school." Hayate said, instantly feeling defensive of Nagi; although she was famous for being a lazy and unsocial girl and he knew it well. Elena waved a dismissive hand as if it were unimportant.

"She was never an early riser." Elena said with another flashing smile. The doors opened and Elena raised a sceptical eyebrow as her boyfriend entered the room.

"You're up unusually late, Himie." She commented as Himura closed the doors quietly behind him before he turned around into the room.

"Morning, Hayate." He said with a friendly grin, there was also a touch of understanding in his eyes. Elena caused men to be flustered, Himura caused most girls to be flustered; but that did not mean they were immune to each other either and his eyes acknowledged Hayate's discomfort without any trace of anger.

"So why such a late start to the morning?" Elena prompted as Himura sat down into another armchair.

"I was up working rather late last night. I made a few calls and tried to put some things together regarding our 'case'. Hopefully the time wasn't wasted." He said, stifling a yawn. "So Nagi stills acts like Bruce Wayne without the double life, eh?" He asked, turning his attention to Hayate who still stood, unsure what to do with this couple around.

"Milady needs her rest; she feels it keeps her healthy." Hayate responded, again on the defensive. Himura shook his head knowledgeably.

"Well, as important as sleep is for growth and general health, so is exercise and if she hasn't changed much she still skips that part of the health course." He joked, standing up and clapping Hayate on the shoulder. "Still, she has changed in some respects and I don't think it was just down to growing up." He said with a wink, leaving Hayate utterly lost.

"Oh, you're up now, Himura-kun?" Maria asked, pushing a door open with Nagi trailing behind her.

"Yes, I was just finishing my exercise routine when you kindly came by to give me a wake up call." Himura said with a gratified smile, then he caught Elena's glance.

"Don't you think we can skip the exercise routine while we're here to relax, Himie?" She asked. The 'exercise routine' was not what one would imagine. Normally such a routine would included a few stretches and perhaps activities such as push-ups; however Himura's; and Elena's too, were far more strenuous and complex, promoting flexibility and agility as well as strength, similar exercises to those that a trained combatant in the SAS would be used to but even further advanced.

"You never know what to expect, Ellie." Himura said, with a calming smile, sticking in the code they were talking in.

"Ah I'm hungry, breakfast's ready, right?" Nagi interrupted, strolling over to the table and jumping into her seat. Hayate was immediately waiting on her. Himura and Elena also sat down but insisted upon serving themselves.

"It helps to become used to doing everything yourself, if you get into the pattern of it then you'll be used to living on your own anywhere." Himura explained their apparent disregard for the hospitality they were being shown.

After eating breakfast the four left for school again; Maria stood by the main entrance and waved them off. Upon arriving at school the group were met with a startling change to the scenery. Police vehicles were parked everywhere along the road by the gates and uniformed policeman were searching the grounds for any small piece of evidence.

"Well well well, it seems things have become a little more serious." Himura muttered as they joined the throng of nervous students walking up the main path to the school.

As they arrived at the school entrance the officer from the day before approached them, seeking out Himura from the group.

"Don't wait up for me." Himura said as he walked away with the police officer. The trio shrugged at each other and continued on to the classroom. As they entered Hayate nearly recoiled from the glares the boys in the room gave him, Elena chuckled as she knew she was the cause of it.

"My, boys in this class sure are lustful." Elena commented loudly to Nagi. Immediately the boys in the room were staring at their feet with their girlfriends berating them over their shallowness. Yukiji entered the classroom and called for homeroom to start; but there was still no sign of Himura, when she called out his name she muttered something inaudible to herself and ticked him off as present anyway before continuing the roll call.

Two hours later, in the middle of a lesson, the door slid open and Himura stepped into the room and apologised for being late. Yukiji just waved him to his seat and he did so without another word, sliding into the chair with apparent ignorance of the curious looks he was receiving.

Lunch break arrived and Elena leaned forward to tap Himura on the shoulder.

"So?" She asked, knowing he knew what she was asking about. He twisted around to talk with her and shrugged.

"They showed me the evidence they have so far and asked what my opinion on it was, they asked me to look into it if I could and that they would keep me in the loop." He said with a mischievous grin, Elena shook her head knowingly.

"'A few calls' huh?" She quoted his words earlier that morning. "So, what've they found out so far?" She asked.

"Nothing other than what we've uncovered. They've already talked to Hinagiku so they have her account of what happened on file, Hayate's no longer a suspect so we've got less time than we had before." He reported.

"Why don't we let the police handle it?" Hayate asked, more out of curiosity than unwillingness to be involved.

"Because the police are sloppy." Himura said shortly and in a manner as if it were obvious. "In any case, nothing new has appeared. I don't expect much from the autopsy of the victim, right now we can only try and retrace the steps of the murderer and hope something jumps out at us." He said, standing up and lifting his bag up. Elena noticed a slight bulge at his hip and raised a quizzical eyebrow and he shrugged.

"Like I said, it pays to be prepared." He said. Elena said nothing more but it was clear she wasn't entirely in agreement with his preparations.

"Okay then, let's split into groups. Ellie, you and Hayate ask around in the main building's hall. Also check for any kind of surveillance camera, the school must have some; it's practically against the law not to have that kind of security these days. Nagi-chan and I can go up to the tower and check out that escape route, see if it plays out with our theory."

Once at the tower, Nagi and Himura took the lift up to the highest floor below the office before stepping out and taking the steps up to the floor they needed.

"Do you really expect to find anything?" Nagi asked, in a bad mood due to the effort she had to exert climbing the stairs. Himura shrugged.

"The thing with investigating is it's never as clear cut as it is on TV. You just poke around at everything you can until you know enough to make a theory. I expect the fingerprints to come up with nothing but hopefully we'll find something that'll help us in the store room itself." He said.

They finally reached the storeroom and Himura pushed the door open, looking in. He couldn't see a light switch which was odd and motioned for Nagi to enter but she stayed back.

"It's dark in there, it could be dangerous." She said.

"Hm, you're right. I've got a torch in my bag." He turned away from the door and put his bag on the floor. He rustled around inside before he found what he was looking for and brought a small torch out which he handed to Nagi. She turned it on and stepped very cautiously into the room. Himura turned in after her, staying close. Her reluctance had made him understand she was afraid of the dark so he did all he could to quench that fear.

"There, that's the window." Himura said as a square of light appeared a few metres to their right. Nagi turned off towards it, swinging the torch from side to side to reveal broken tables and the like that every school stored somewhere.

They made it to the window and Himura forced it open and handed Nagi a small bag, the size of a wash bag, to Nagi.

"The police leant it to me when I asked." He explained He turned away and looked around at what he could see of the room; hoping to find something that seemed out of place. He found it in the form of a coil of nylon rope, the kind used in abseiling. He knelt down and picked it up, he could see it had been used recently as it lacked the coat of dust that covered everything else in the room.

"Look at this." Nagi said, peering at something on the windowsill. Himura stood up and returned to her side to see where she was pointing. Although she hadn't started dusting for fingerprints yet there were clear handprints in the dust and dirt already on the windowsill; but they were clearly gloved.

"I thought so." He said with a sigh. "We won't find any fingerprints there; but at least we know that they came through here." He leaned out of the window and looked up at the balcony, trying to judge the distance. It would take a skilled acrobat to make that jump and then twist around in mid air to catch onto the balcony, which made Himura think. This had definitely been the escape route; but how did the killer get up onto the balcony? Such an entry would be loud and the difficulty made it an unlikely choice.

He levered himself back into the room and turned to close the window.

"So did this help at all?" Nagi asked. Himura shook his head as he closed the window.

"Nope, just gave us more questions to answer." They turned to go but there was the sound of the door banging open. Himura motioned for Nagi to be quiet and they moved forwards slowly. Nagi was quiet but slow, Himura moved silently without an apparent change in pace but he stopped for Nagi to catch up at intervals. They rounded the corner onto the main aisle and found themselves faced with a girl in the school uniform glaring at them.

"What do you think you're doing in here? It's restricted." She said snootily. Himura sighed and motioned to the bag Nagi was holding.

"The police asked us to have a look around here, we're working with them on the murder case." The words made the girl's eyes open wide and she turned and fled. Himura cursed and chased after her. His powerful legs propelled him forwards and he was about to catch up to her when Nagi shrieked behind him.

Himura skidded to a halt and turned to see tables collapsing, a shadowy figure retreating from behind them. He leapt forwards and covered Nagi as the stack of furniture fell on top of them. Most thudded harmlessly off his back or shoulders to fall on the floor but one particularly heavy table struck him at the base of the neck and he stumbled forwards, dazed. He shoved Nagi out of the way and she fell with a cry as the remaining tables toppled onto the confused Himura. He turned just in time to see a boy with short and spiky red hair fleeing the room before the furniture blocked out his vision of the door and covered him.

* * *

"There, Hayate-kun. You see? A camera." Elena said, pointing at a small black semi circle in a corner of the room.

"That's a security camera?" Hayate asked doubtfully.

"Yup, it's a new type. They don't have them in stores, far too expensive; but with a school like this they've got plenty of money to waste." Elena said, hurrying over to the desk. She stopped suddenly causing Hayate to bump into her, he was surprised to find that he was the one who had to step back, Elena was surprisingly sturdy despite her model like frame.

"What's wrong?" He asked, catching sight of Elena's distracted gaze.

"It's nothing, Himie just encountered a little complication but they're both alright. Come on, let's ask at the desk for the security tape." She said, leaving Hayate to mull over her mysterious words.

"Do you have the tapes to that security camera?" Elena asked, pointing at the tiny orb in the corner. The receptionist looked over the rim of her half rim glasses.

"You're a bright young lady, to know what that is; and yes we do but we can't just hand them out to anyone. Besides, the police have the material copy." She said, sliding a piece of paper in a folder. Elena thought for a moment, back in their own world she and Himura could use their titles or reputation to get such items without a fuss but here that wouldn't work.

"We're working with the police on the murder case, or rather we're working with Imanda Himura." She said and the receptionist looked up.

"Ah, the police officer did mention something about a boy with that name. He said we should treat him like a member of the force. If that's the case I can get you a data copy of the video." She said, Elena sighed, glad that things had turned out so easily.

"That'd be good. You tape days separately, right?" Elena asked and the receptionist nodded, putting down her paperwork and turning to the computer terminal next to her and started clicking and typing.

"Yes that's right. You'll want yesterday's tape then, is that right?" She asked, Elena nodded and waited as the receptionist burned the video onto a CD before handing it over. The two thanked the receptionist and left, the CD now in their possession.

"Well, we've got the CD, now we just watch from the time the murder happened until about ten minutes after and see if anyone who shows up matches our suspects." Elena said, holding the CD up to reflect the sunlight off of it as if it might reveal something.

"Let's go to the meeting place and wait for Himie and Nagi-chan, they'll take a few more minutes yet I would expect."

* * *

"Oi, are you alright?" Nagi asked, scared to be alone in the dark. There was a rustle and then the tables collapsed to the sides as Himura sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get to see the guy's face?" He asked but Nagi shook her head.

"No I remember the girl's face." Himura stood up and helped Nagi cross over the unstable heap of tables and chairs and then they left the store room.

"Well, we got a lot more questions that need answering from our little trip; but at least we've got a few leads now."


	5. Chapter 4

**C**hapter 4

"Milady, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine Hayate. Thanks to Himura, that is." Nagi said, finally placating Hayate who had insisted on checking for cuts or bruises. Elena was smiling at Himura with something akin to amusement in her eyes.

"You were surprised? That's a new one." She needled, Himura shrugged.

"We sealed our powers when we came here to prevent unnecessary problems, I'd forgotten how much we depend upon them." Elena scoffed at this.

"Oh now come, Himura. You were trained by British Intelligence. To quote Sean Connery in The Rock: 'the best'." Elena crossed her legs and sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, what's our theory now?" She asked, getting back to more serious matters. She and Nagi were sitting on the bench with Hayate bending over a tea trolley waiting on Nagi. Himura sat cross legged on the grass in lotus position minus the stereotypical hands palm upwards and fingers making a small 'O'.

"Well, let's start with how they got into the room. I'm not so sure they got up through that window now. Sure, they definitely got out through it, there's a coil of nylon wire by the window and it hasn't been there long so I suspect the culprit used it to get down off the balcony; but there's no way they climbed up onto the balcony from the floor below, it's just a little too much of a stretch, you and I would find it a difficult manoeuvre to accomplish." Himura said, shifting a little to find a more comfortable patch of grass.

"So we still don't know how they got into the room, we'll have to ask Hinagiku-chan about the office security measures, like who has access to the door's key. Just one thing about that escape route theory, the police didn't find any nylon wire and the must have tied it to something to abseil down to the flow below." Elena pointed out, Himura thought for a moment.

"Someone must have untied it before the police found it, or they may have just overlooked it. What with the victim thrown over the balcony a tiny piece of wire isn't going to attract anyone's attention, besides, they thought Hayate was the perpetrator so they didn't look for any escape route." Himura answered, before continuing onto the next point.

"In any case, there was that girl who ran when I mentioned we were working with the police and then a boy pushed those tables onto Nagi to stop me chasing after her. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that they were working together and it was the boy who committed the crime. We need to find this girl, again we need to ask Hinagiku-san about that, she'll have access to the school records but it'll take time to sift through them. She's our biggest lead right now so we have to look into that as soon as possible." Himura stood up and performed a quick flow of impressive stretches, sighing as he felt his body lose its tension.

"You're in pretty good shape, you should consider joining the kendo club, and you've got a good physique for it." The cheery voice made them all look to the source to see Hinagiku enter their little area. She was smiling but it seemed to be in the verge of faltering and her intelligent eyes looked a little dimmer than usual.

"Himie and I are already masters of several martial arts and have awards for several forms of sword fighting, including fencing and kendo." Elena said, moving to make room for Hinagiku on the bench and gesturing for her to sit down. Hinagiku shook her head.

"I've got a lot of work piled up so I don't have time to rest, I was just taking a short walk before I went back to it." She hesitated a moment before continuing. "How's your investigation going?" She asked, her voice wavering. Even Hayate caught onto the weakness and he looked up. There was the briefest moment of silence before Elena jumped up from the bench, took a few quick strides over to Hinagiku and hugged her.

"Cheer up you! You don't look nearly as pretty with that sad look on your face." She said quietly. Himura had wisely turned away from the scene and had procured a small book from somewhere which he concentrated on. Hayate busied himself with making the tea and Nagi sat embarrassed at the sight with nothing else to do.

"Thanks… I think I need to get back to work now. I need to finish it all before the end of school so I can make sure the kendo club is still running properly." Hinagiku said after a while, disentangling herself from the other girl.

"I'll come help you with your work, you need a break." Elena said and led the protesting Hinagiku away.

"And Ellie works her happy magic again." Himura mused, snapping his little book closed and slipping it into a pocket inside his blazer.

"I've never seen Hinagiku like that." Nagi said quietly. Himura sat on the other end of the bench and sighed.

"You know, no matter how strong or brave someone seems, they always have a weak side. It just shows that they're human and that nobody's perfect." He said, seeing Nagi look at him through his peripheral vision. He had guessed right, Nagi saw Hinagiku as a kind of role model.

"You sound just like a manga." Nagi eventually said, trying to throw up a cold façade to hide her awe. Himura chuckled and stared up at the sky.

"Manga is written by people y'know, it's going to have some real life lessons in there somewhere."

* * *

"Really, you shouldn't worry about it so much! Just because you're the president doesn't mean you have to do all the work!" Elena placated Hinagiku.

"But I'm meant to be the one who does all the work for the students. Students aren't meant to help me with it." Hinagiku protested but Elena hushed her.

"You're a student as well! Now no more complains, Hinagiku-chan." She said with a broad smile. Hinagiku was quiet for a moment.

"Hina." She finally said.

"Hm?" Elena queried.

"Just call me Hina." Hinagiku said and Elena nodded.

"As long as you call me Ellie." She said with another dazzling smile. Hinagiku nodded, her eyes becoming a little brighter.

"Sure!"

* * *

"I'm going to go do some checking around, I'll see you back in class." Himura said, waving to Nagi and Hayate before walking away.

"Those two are really odd." Nagi said. Hayate handed her a cup of tea and laid a plate of biscuits on the bench next to her.

"They do seem to say some strange things now and then; and they always seem to know what the other's thinking." Hayate said, stepping back to stand by the trolley. Nagi sighed and glanced at Hayate through one eye.

"Hayate…." She started but stopped, unsure of how to continue.

"What is it, milady?" Hayate's polished butler attitude stopped Nagi in her tracks and she sipped her tea.

"Never mind."

* * *

Himura wandered past the old school building and stopped, pondering whether it was worth looking into it. Surely such a place would be perfect for hatching a carefully planned crime, which is what this had seemed to be so far?

He headed towards it but was stopped when he heard an unmistakeable click. He turned around very slowly and saw a boy in uniform standing there wearing a black ski mask.

"You're not bad, sneaking up on me without making a sound." Himura said, keeping his voice steady while his mind raced. He hadn't expected his stalker to make such a clear move so soon.

"You've been very thorough in your investigation. Too thorough for my tastes. You've probably got enough facts to link it to one of our group and it wouldn't take long to find out who that involves." Himura's gaze glanced over the weapon, the boy's hand was steady and he quickly worked out the trajectory of the bullet; and decided he didn't like it.

"You do realise that killing me will only bring more attention, you can't run forever." Himura tried, desperately running plans through his mind. It would take too long to break the seal on his powers, he knew he could draw his firearm and shoot the boy before he pulled the trigger of his own gun; but Himura didn't much like the idea of shooting such a clear lead.

"Maybe; but you're smarter than the police, they have no idea what to search for whereas you've already found clues that will lead you to the truth. This is upon your own head, this and what I'll be forced to do to your companions."

* * *

"Hey Ellie, how long have you been together with that guy?" Hinagiku asked, aiming for nonchalant while she filled in yet another report. Elena sat on the sofa reading through various teacher and student reports and requests.

"You mean Himie? Hmm, I think we're twenty three days off our seventh anniversary." She said with a smile. "I don't think we've ever had a bad phase." She said and then glanced slyly at Hinagiku. "I know why you're asking Hina, 'because you've got someone you like, right?" Elena asked in a half teasing tone of voice. Hinagiku instantly blushed and pressed a stamp against a piece of paper with a little too much force before putting it in a ring binder and snapping it closed.

"Y-yeah." She finally said and Elena laughed good naturedly.

"Why so shy about it then, Hina? You should be proud of your feelings!" Elena proclaimed with an apparently irrelevant gesture.

"But it's hard to say your feelings to that person, isn't it? I mean, for the first time at least; and it's not that simple anyway…." Hina said, trailing off, Elena stood up and walked over to behind Hina's desk and patted he on the shoulder.

"I can't give you advice on how to confess your feelings to him because the way Himie and I did to each other was in a rather remarkable situation I hope you never find yourself in." For a moment memories of battling a massive horde of demons with all of their comrades lying wounded and dying around them swarmed to her mind before she forced them away.

"It's not that I can't confess to him… it's more I feel I shouldn't." Hina said. Some part of her wondered how she was speaking so freely about this with someone who was a virtual stranger when she had not spoken to anyone about her feelings before. "I made a promise to someone who loved him before I realised I did that I would support her. I feel like I'm betraying her if I try and act on my own feelings." Hina explained, falling quiet now that her piece had been said. Elena leaned back, her index finger touched to her lips as she thought.

"Hmm, that is an odd situation; but I don't think you'd be betraying her. I mean, if through you supporting this girl the boy comes to fall in love with her then it's a bit of a false love, don't you think? I mean, a real man should be able to fall in love with a girl whether she loves him back or not, I don't think a boy should go out with a girl just because she confessed to him, if you see what I mean." Elena said, taking a few steps beyond the desk and twirled around, flashing Hina a comforting smile. "Still, I think if you confessed to Hayate-kun then he couldn't say no." She winked, Hina was flustered.

"Who said anything about Hayate-kun? We know each other and we're friends too but I don't like him like th-" Elena silenced her with a wave of her hand.

"Oh come on Hina, I'm a girl, I know how these things work." She said with a laugh. Before she knew it, Hina found herself laughing too.

"Now is that all your work done?" Elena asked and Hina nodded, pushing her chair back from the desk.

"Yup. Thanks for helping with me that, I have no idea how I'd get through all that before the end of the day. You seem pretty used to paperwork." She said, Elena shrugged non-commitedly.

"Oh, I've had some experience in the past." She said casually. They left the office chatting, Hina turned around to lock the door and they walked towards the lift.

"Are there important documents in there or something? I mean, you have to lock it and everything." Elena said and Hina nodded.

"All the students' personal profiles are in there. It's very important we keep it all well protected."

"So only you have a key? Surely that's a problem, coming up and having to unlock and lock it every day. What happens if you're ill?" Elena asked, she wasn't just making conversation though.

"No all the student council members have a key to it, so there's always someone who can get inside; although I'm usually the first one here and the last to leave." Hina said with a shrug. The doors opened and they stepped out into the main hall. The school bells chimed to signal the end of lunch. As they made their way back to the classroom the two girls met Hayate and Nagi.

"Hm, isn't Himie with you?" Elena asked. The two shook their heads.

"He said he was going to 'do some checking around.'" Nagi said, they walked along the path and were about to turn off into the school building when Elena suddenly stopped.

"Is something wrong, Ellie?" Hina asked, turning and then nearly jumped back at the expression on Elena's face. Her eyes were opened wide, her mouth trembled and she shook all over.

"Himie…." She murmured, falling to her knees. Then the sound of a gunshot echoed over the campus and reached their ears.

"It's coming from the old building." Hina said, bending down and holding Elena's shoulders.

"That's where Himura-san was going!" Hayate exclaimed and they were all filled with dread.


	6. Chapter 5

**C**hapter 5

"Who would be stupid enough to fire a gun with all these officers around?" Hina demanded. She was helping Elena, who was shaking beyond control and was muttering unintelligible nonsense, to stand.

"Does it matter? If he's shot we need to call an ambulance." Hayate said. Elena seemed to snap out of her state and shook her head.

"No, no. Himie says it's just a scratch." Elena said, her voice becoming a little firmer.

"What do you mean? There's no way you can know that, how do we even know it's him who was shot?" Hina demanded. Elena smiled weakly.

"Himie and I aren't entirely normal, Hina. In fact, we're far from it. Come on, let's go find him." With that she freed herself of Hina's steadying hands and ran down the path towards the old building, overgrown trees blocked the path in places but posed no obstacle to the girl who lithely leapt over or ducked under the branches.

"We can't let her go alone if there's someone with a gun. The police will be on their way so let's go." Hina said, urging Hayate and Nagi to go as well. Hayate looked at Nagi.

"I'm not comfortable with taking milady into this kind of danger." Nagi stomped onto his foot.

"I'll be fine so let's go!" She shouted and ran after Elena. Hayate stopped hopping and followed with Hina close behind.

"You're going to have to explain to me what all this is about, Hayate-kun. Things are two messed up right now." Hina said between breaths.

"I don't know anymore than you do. Those two are definitely something else, that's for sure." Hayate protested. They vaulted over a low branch and suddenly found themselves looking at the old school building, looming dark and ominous before them.

"Where's Ellie?" Hina said, as much to herself as Hayate, as she scanned the bare earth between the tiny wood and the old building.

"There's milady." Hayate said, spotting Nagi bent over in exhaustion, hands on her knees. The two caught up quickly with Nagi where she gasped for air.

"She's so fast." She spluttered.

"Where did she go?" Hina asked and Nagi pointed a few metres away to their left where they could see the pink of Elena's skirt a huge contrast against the black earth. Hina left Hayate with Nagi and ran after Elena. She prided herself on her speed and fitness but Elena far surpassed anything she had seen in her life, covering the ground at a ridiculous pace.

"Ellie, wait up!" Hina called, out of breath. Elena slowed and turned to see Hina and motioned for her to come. Finally Hina caught up with the blonde girl who wasn't even breathing heavily. "Where are you going?" She finally said and Elena pointed to a figure sitting on a fallen tree. They hurried on to find it was Himura, his blazer folded beside him on the trunk. He had ripped part of the sleeve of his shirt off and was wrapping it around his left shoulder where a dark red stain was spreading out.

"Sorry for worrying you, Ellie." He said with an apologetic smile. Elena sat down on his blazer and slapped his hands away from the makeshift bandage and tied it herself. Himura didn't even wince when she tugged it tight, most men would have cried out like a child.

"What happened?" Hina demanded, Himura pointed with his good arm to a few paces ahead of them. There were two splatters of blood about six yards apart.

"A guy was following me so I walked off. I was careless again. I really should have thought of the possibility that he might confront me but it seemed a little too rash. I managed to get him talking a bit; most people's mouths are loose when they think their prey has no chance of survival. I got some information out of him before he realised he said too much and shot at me. I pulled my gun and shot his hand so he couldn't fire at me again. He turned and ran and by the time I got up he was out of sight."

"You were carrying a gun on the premises?" Hina asked, caught halfway between rage and disbelief. Himura pointed to the holstered weapon at his hip.

"I guessed something like this would happen so I brought it along, it'd be suicide otherwise." He shrugged, not seeming to care about Hina's barely checked rage.

"Hina, if he hadn't been carrying it he'd be dead right now." Elena pleaded and Hina relented at the tone in Elena's voice, the pain was raw. Himura patted Elena's hand gently.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I won't let some snooty schoolboys get the better of me again." Elena glared at him furiously.

"You better not! What am I supposed to do if you get shot again? Honestly, you take too much care for other people, quite prepared to take a bullet for someone else without thinking to wear a Kevlar vest." She said, becoming quieter until she was merely muttering.

"Oh come now Ellie, I wonder how many times I've had to save you because you've been selfless? We balance each other out, that's why it works and that's why we're still alive." Himura said, his soft smile could have thawed anyone's rage.

"Just say something before you go getting yourself shot, okay? At least I can call an ambulance in advance." Elena joked and they both laughed.

"Are either of you going to explain any of what's going on?" Hina said huffily and they both looked up at her.

"It's a long story; but to put it simply, we're not entirely normal and I mean that in the sense of being human as well as being students." He said, glancing over at the woods. Elena was searching the foliage too.

"I've got time to hear it." Hina said but Himura shook his head and stood up. Elena too jumped off the log and handed Himura his blazer and helped him slip it on, trying to avoid pressuring the injury too much.

"Time for you guys to get to class." Himura said.

"What about you, we can take you to the infirmary for now." Hina said but again Himura shook his head.

"No, I'll return to the mansion for now. It's better if it seems like I'm out of the picture for a while." He said, raising a hand to forestall her protests. "This is getting dangerous. Whoever assaulted you outright tried to kill me for finding too many clues, they're not lying low. With me out of the way they have no need to take anyone else out unless they investigate. Ellie, give me that CD you got earlier, I'll take a look at it when I get back." Elena handed Himura the disk which he slipped into his blazer pocket.

"Let's go, Hina." Elena said, taking Hina by the hand and leading her away again. Himura waved with his good arm before slipping away among the tress. He easily made it to the entrance without anyone noticing, most people were in class anyway and the police had been diverted by the gunshots so it was virtually unguarded.

He made his way to the mansion and realised he was feeling weak from the loss of blood. He quickly checked himself over and discovered there was now a dark stain seeping through his blazer and most of his shirt was stained red. He called at the intercom and Maria opened the gates, not asking why he had returned early and alone.

Himura wandered his way up the drive and up to the main doors. No one was there so he pushed his way inside and stumbled over the grand staircase and sat down to think.

"Well, could be worse." He muttered, using the banister to pull himself to his feet.

"Ah, Himura-kun. You look a little unsteady and you've come back early, are you ill?" Maria's voice drifted down the stairs and Himura turned to see her standing on the next floor holding a basket of what looked like freshly picked strawberries. She caught sight of the dark stain on his blazer and the spreading red stain on his shirt and collar and she nearly dropped the basket.

"What on earth happened?" She asked as she ran down the steps and untied the crude bandage.

"Someone involved in that murder was following us so I took a guess and left the others, he followed me but I hadn't expected him to act so soon." Himura swayed a little, steadying himself again on the banister.

"That was rather careless of you, brave but careless. If you come upstairs we can wash the wound out. I'll call for the doctor; he can come and see to you properly." Maria said, turning to walk up the stairs. Himura followed her, often using a wall for support. He'd forgotten how easily someone could be weakened by a wound, without his powers he was just an abnormally tough human but nothing more. He wouldn't be so careless again; if he was it would cost lives.

* * *

"Ellie!" Elena turned as Hina called out her name and came running up to the trio as they left.

"What's up Hina?" She asked, keen to be away and to find Himura.

"Do you mind if I come with you? I don't want to sit around while you guys look into this and get hurt, plus I still have words to say to your boyfriend." Elena seemed about to refuse but shrugged and looked to Nagi who just turned away.

"Do whatever you want." She said and the group journeyed home to Nagi's mansion. The gates opened as they reached them and they all had to hurry back as a car turned off the road and roared up the drive.

"That was the doctor's car." Nagi said.

"Maybe Maria-san called him for Himura-san?" Hayate suggested and they slipped in through the gates before they had a chance to close again. Maria greeted them at the entrance, having opened them for the doctor.

"Himura-kun is being looked at by the doctor at the moment. It seems that he's lost a great deal of blood, he seems a bit reckless." She said. Elena paled a little at the mention of blood loss but no one seemed to notice as Maria showed them in.

"Ah, Hinagiku-chan, it's been a while hasn't it?" Maria asked with a smile, Hina nodded and returned the smile.

"Yes it has been. Not a lot seems to have changed around here since I came last." Hinagiku commented as Maria led them up the stairs. They walked down the corridor and Nagi slipped into her room to change, as did Elena when they passed the guest rooms.

"Will you be staying the night or do you plan on going home?" Maria asked.

"I wasn't planning on staying, I just came to ask Ellie's boyfriend a few questions, like why he was armed in school." Hina said, the anger flaring again.

"He was armed?" Maria asked, shocked.

"He had a gun with him. It probably saved his life but I still can't allow such a thing to happen again!" Hina proclaimed and Maria nodded her head wholeheartedly.

"But its odd how Himura-san only brought the gun in today, the first day he'd need it." Hayate said, which stopped them all.

"Things are getting too confusing, I don't get it." Hina said, collapsing onto a sofa as they entered the living room. Nagi and Elena soon joined them, now changed into more casual clothes. They waited a few more minutes before the doctor appeared and spoke briefly to Maria before he showed himself out. Shortly after that Himura pushed his way into the room, looking pale and weak. Elena leapt up to help him but he waved her down.

"I've still got two good legs." He said with a grin and made his way over to Elena's sofa where he sat down, careful not to hit his shoulder or put pressure on it.

"You have several things to answer for, Himura-kun." Hina said sternly and Himura shook his head.

"No, I don't. I carried a gun in today because I had predicted one of two things to happen. Either our culprits would zone in on you or they'd try to stop us meddling in their affairs. If you're saying I should walk around unprepared for an attack I knew would come, then you're not thinking right." Himura said and met Hina's gaze. She was the one to break the stare, huffing and crossing her arms.

"I still can't allow you to walk around armed like that again." She said firmly. Himura shrugged.

"Try telling that to the goon who shot me; and the ones who have been following you all day." Himura said, glancing at Elena who nodded.

"They followed us back here too, they've got us under close surveillance." She confirmed.

"What is going on? I want to know now." Hina said, leaning forward in frustration and anger. Himura sighed and leaned back.

"There's just one thing I need to know. Who has access to the school council's office when it's locked?" Himura asked.

"Only school council members and a few teachers have keys to the office. No one else can get in." Hina said, confirming Himura's thoughts.

"Okay, this is what I've got so far. One of your school council members opened the doors up and let the murdered in before anyone else arrived and he waited out on the balcony. You arrived and went about your business; but of course you never went out onto the balcony where he was hiding. The victim joins you in the office and the culprit strikes, throwing her off the balcony and knocking you out before escape down over the balcony through the window of the room below and then taking the stairs down to the bottom of the building." Himura paused and then leaned back.

"There are only three possible motives here that I can see. They wanted to kill Nena, they wanted to hurt you, or they wanted to frame someone else, like Hayate, for murder. The second possible motive is less likely since they didn't attack you while you were alone and they haven't touched you since the event. So we have two possible motives and the police have proved that Hayate didn't do it; and yet there have been no reprisals so far therefore it must be something to do with Nena."

"No one would want to kill Nena-chan, everybody liked her and she was always happy." Hina said, shaking her head. Himura scoffed.

"That's how it's always like." Elena laid a hand on his shoulder, silencing him.

"Himie and I have had a lot of experience with people who have secrets; everyone has a secret and this Nena girl must have had one that resulted in this, or a past she never spoke of. It happens all the time but arguing about this will make no difference, we need to look into her background until we find something." Hina shook her head.

"I can't let you do that, it's a breach of privacy." She said, Elena glanced at Himura who nodded his permission.

"Hina, do you have a tiny little dot of blood on your upper arm?" Elena asked, Hina looked shocked.

"How could you possibly know that?" She demanded furiously, all kinds of explanations running through her head and none of them innocent.

"That proves it then, Himie." Elena said and Himura nodded.

"We think this 'group' of people who committed the murder are involved in drug trafficking." Himura explained, standing up.

"What difference does that make? And where are you going?" Hina had now lost all shreds of authority and was reduced to a confused and scared girl.

"I'm going to get something to show you, Ellie can explain the rest of our theory." Himura left the room and they all turned to Elena.

"I don't quite understand how you two have managed to work all this out, you have almost no clues and you seem to know where to look for evidence." Maria said suspiciously but Elena shrugged her suspicion off.

"Himie and I have had experience in this kind of field, sadly. Besides, Himie's IQ is higher than anything you'll have ever seen, he can piece information together faster than a super computer ever can." Elena folded her legs underneath her then sat on them before she continued.

"A few things point toward this case having drugs involved. First of all, the boy who shot Himie said that they were a group, more than one. Often drug dealers employ groups of people and in a school like Hakuou you'd need to, it would be hard to trade anything there; but they'll use ways to force you onto drugs." Elena shook her head, she was going off topic now.

"Anyway, the second point would be the autopsy report Himie got a hold of from the police. There are signs of long term usage of drugs; but nothing recent. Most likely this Nena girl cleaned herself up at some point; but the drug dealers didn't like that. The last point was that little pin prick on your shoulder, Hina. That's a mark left by a syringe, most likely the plan was to remove an old user who could expose them while recruiting a new user; and this person would also be in a position of power."

"Because I'm the school council president I would be able to turn a blind eye to their activities; but I wouldn't do that if I didn't need their supply." Hina said, understanding. Elena nodded.

"They tried to get you hooked back then. The problem with this entire scenario is that while we have a very firm motive and we know exactly what happened, we can't prove who did it and besides, we don't know the identities of anyone in this group. We need access to the students' profiles so we can find out more; and most importantly you must never be on your own. Once they realise you're not addicted, they'll come back and try again."


	7. Chapter 6

**C**hapter 6

"Here, I've got the report." Himura said, flashing a folder at them. He sat down next to Elena and placed the folder onto the table and opened it. He flicked through the pages until he found what he wanted and turned the folder around so that it was facing Hina and Nagi who were sitting on the same sofa. Maria and Hayate who stood on either side of the sofa both leaned in to see it as well.

"You see this? It's a report on some of the organs in our victim's body. There are some clear signs of abuse through drug use here, there's no doubt about it, she was a heavy drug user in the past; but it looks like she's been clean for nearly a month now." Himura sat back and crossed his legs, right ankle on left knee.

"So they killed her because she was a junkie but when she broke her addiction they thought she'd turn them in?" Nagi asked, summing up their theory.

"That seems to be the most obvious motive. Unfortunately these guys are clever. They left no prints anywhere, they keep their faces hidden and even if we ask around no one will reveal them because of the consequences." Himura sighed, rubbing the corners of his eyes with thumb and forefinger.

"What about the security camera?" Hayate asked but Himura shook his head.

"I looked it through, no one stuck out. Once we have a lead on someone then we can compare with the surveillance tape and if they pop up we've got a good suspect."

"So we'll have to do some more random poking around until we stir something up again; but without anyone playing hero this time." Elena said, giving Himura a sideways glance.

"This may sound stupid; but can't you let the police handle this?" Hina asked, Himura and Elena both looked at her with a look that said: 'Yes, that it is stupid.'

"Like I said yesterday, we can't keep worrying about it today, let's leave it 'til tomorrow and see what comes up. I think now's a time for relaxation." Himura said and Hina looked at her watch.

"I should probably go, my mother will be worried." She said, making to leave.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've already called her to say you'll be staying with us tonight." Maria said with a smile, Hina turned to her, lost for words momentarily.

"What?" She finally managed to splutter out.

"There are no less than five people watching this mansion and its gates. It is far too dangerous for you to go home right now; I wouldn't be surprised if these guys broke into your house to work their magic on you." Himura said, his eyes had suddenly lost their warmth and were cold. "These people are dangerous; and they're not new to this either. It has been a very long time since someone was able to actually wound me." Himura said, patting his shoulder.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Hinagiku said, standing up. "Although I'm grateful for your care and offer, it's best for me to stay at home." She began to leave but Elena was standing by the door, leaning against it.

"Hina, do you know about the SAS?" Elena asked the question out of the blue. Hina blinked a few times and then fought her way through the momentary confusion.

"The British version of the CIA?" She asked and then flushed deeply as Himura burst out laughing at her answer.

"Ha! Oh dear, you have no clue then." He said, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes.

"That's what they are though!" Hina said loudly, indignant. Elena shook her head.

"No, Hina, they're not. The SAS are the most elite force on the face of the planet. Eight men properly armed from that group can take on a hundred or more, one man can take three on unarmed. They are the best of the best. The CIA are good, I'll grant you that; but they're also much larger so there's less need for such excessive training and skill."

"Is there a point to this?" Hina asked, not really impressed.

"Himie and I were in the SAS once. If Himie was injured, then you have no chance whatsoever, Hina." Elena was blunt. Hina shook her head.

"I don't believe this. I am capable of taking care of myself well enough to get around a few drug addicts." Elena sighed and turned to Nagi.

"Nagi-chan, do you still have those practice swords in the basement?" She asked and Nagi looked to Maria who thought for a moment.

"I think they were there last time I cleaned down there. It's only storage down there so we rarely go down."

"Come on then Hina, let's make a bet then. We'll have a duel, best of three. If you win then you can go home, if I win then you stay here for the night, where we can protect you. Deal?" Elena smiled mischievously. Hina was a tomboy; she hated to lose and never backed down from a challenge.

"Fine by me; but remember I'm the chairman of the Kendo club." Hina said with a confident smirk. Elena just shook her head; saying nothing.

"We'll use the auditorium, it's a large space suited for this kind of thing. Hayate-kun, can you and Himie go get the equipment?" Elena asked, disappearing out of the room without another word.

"Milady?" Hayate asked, seeking permission. Nagi nodded, she was grinning, stars in her eyes.

"I wonder if they'll use any moves from Rurouni Kenshin?" She exclaimed, dreaming off into her own little dream world. Maria and Hayate sighed at her frail grasp in reality.

"Come on then Hayate, time to get those swords. You lead the way, I can't remember the way into the basement." Himura said, standing up. Hayate led the way and they too left the room.

"Maria, let's go to the auditorium! I wonder if Elena's any good, Hinagiku's really skilled, this is going to be interesting!" Nagi leapt off the sofa and sped out of the room with Maria following rather less enthusiastically behind her.

* * *

"Will Elena-san be alright? Hinagiku-san's very good with a sword." Hayate said doubtfully. He was in agreement with Hinagiku staying in the mansion, if it was as dangerous as the two foreigners had proclaimed. Unlike the others, Hayate understood the harshness of the world quite well. Himura chuckled.

"Just you wait and see." He said knowingly and Hayate huffed. They descended some stone steps down to the basement and Hayate flicked the light on. "Have you ever been down here?" He asked and Hayate shook his head.

"Milady never needs anything from down here so I've never had to. Do you know where the equipment is then?" He asked; but needlessly as Himura was already several yards away and opening a large chest. He reached inside and brought out a pair of expertly crafted wooden swords.

"Here it is." He said, leaning the two swords against the chest and reaching inside. He brought out a pair of chest guards and threw them to Hayate. "Sorry to bundle the heavy stuff on you but I've only got one arm for now." He explained, throwing wrist guards and graves which were bound together to Hayate as well as a protective helmet. He picked another one out and held it in the crook of his arm, bending down to pick up the two swords.

They left the basement so encumbered with the gear and made their way to the auditorium which was, luckily, not far from the entrance to the basement.

* * *

Inside the auditorium were Hinagiku, Maria and Nagi. Nagi sat on a throne like chair on a wooden stage at the far end of the room while Maria stood by her side. Hinagiku was pacing in the centre of the room.

"Where did she go? She issued the challenge and she isn't here!" Hina fumed. The doors creaked open and she stopped pacing to look up expectantly; but it was the two boys, not Elena.

"We brought the gear. Ah, Ellie's still changing." Himura walked over to the centre of the room and laid the two swords carefully on the ground and then placed the helmet to the side. He took the gear piece by piece from Hayate and arrayed them out in separate piles for each combatant.

"Changing?" Hinagiku queried as she fitted on the armour.

"Yeah, into her uniform I expect." Himura said, jumping up onto the stage and then sitting down on the edge.

"Her school uniform, so it's fair?" Hina asked as she strapped on the body armour.

"Oh no, her other uniform." Himura grinned as the door opened again and Elena stepped into the room.

She wore black boots buckled up the side with gold clasps and white trousers tucked into these boots, a dark brown leather belt circled her waist. She wore a white T-shirt with a white jacket which had a broach at the neck which was clasped. A golden dragon was emblazoned on the back of her jacket and it curled over her shoulder so that its head glared out at all in front of her. Over her heart a coat of arms was sewn into the jacket. It was in the traditional shape of an English Lord's coat of arms, a shield. The coat of arms was simple, just a red rose with arrows dotting the background.

"What is that?" Hina asked as Elena walked to the centre of the room and started strapping on the armour.

"My Guardian uniform. Himie has a similar one, only the coat of arms is a little different." Elena explained, pointing to the emblem on her jacket before she slid her head through the body armour and then let it fall into place before she tightened it by the strings at the side. She forwent the greaves; her boots were knee high so there was no need for the armour. Strapping on the wrist guards she picked up the sword and looked it over, running her hand over the blade, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Hayate stood on the other side of Nagi.

"What's she doing?" Hayate asked, the girl and her maid had no answer but Himura did.

"She's understanding the blade. You have to know your weapon if you want to fight properly with it. If you don't understand it then your attacks will be more affected by factors like air pressure and your blows will miss their mark by a few centimetres." He turned back to watching the two girls who were now standing opposite each other, swords held out in front of them in a traditional en-guard pose.

"Here are the rules: Land a blow that would normally be fatal on the other person to end the round. Best of three matches. Ready?" Himura called from his seat. The two girls nodded, both frowning in concentration at the other. "I feel just like Craig Charles; but I'll resist yelling out his Robot Wars catch phrase. Begin!"

Hinagiku lunged forwards, as fast as ever. Himura whistled.

"She's not bad, that lunge is perfectly executed and she's fast to boot."

"Hinagiku-san is a good swords woman, I'm not sure Elena-san will be able to-" Hayate was cut short as Elena pirouetted away from the lunge and her sword came slashing down at impossible speed to tap lightly on the back of Hinagiku's neck.

"Ellie's win!" Himura called and there was a hush across the room.

"Hayate, did you see her move?" Nagi finally asked, Hayate was unable to speak. "Hey, Hayate!" Nagi urged and at last the butler shook his head and brought himself back to reality.

"I didn't, milady." He said and Nagi leaned back in her seat, satisfied. The two girls stood opposite each other again, swords at the ready.

"Second match, begin!" Himura called once the two girls had confirmed that they were ready. This time Hinagiku was cautious and began to circle Elena, who did the same so that they were both sidestepping slowly, watching the other. Elena darted forwards and lunged with her sword. Hinagiku twirled to the side and brought her sword up above her head for a counter when she felt a tap on the back of her neck.

"Ellie's win!" Himura called again. Hinagiku turned around in disbelief, Elena had been right in front of her and had disappeared the moment Hinagiku had twisted away, losing sight of the girl for one second.

"How…?" She stuttered, Elena grinned.

"I told you, Himie and I are a little different to other people." They took their positions again for the third and final match. Hinagiku gripped her sword tightly, determined not to lose again.

"Begin!" Himura shouted and Hinagiku darted forwards, feinted a lunge and sidestepped to bring her sword crashing down in a vertical slash on Elena's head, except that Elena had somehow closed the distance and her sword flashed. Hinagiku could only watch as Elena's weapon slid under her own guard and then moved up with the flat of the blade. It struck her wrists and her hands instantly became numb, her fingers loosening and the sword dropping from her grip.

Elena's sword rushed up to Hinagiku's neck where it stopped just touching the skin.

"Ellie's win. Ellie 3, Hinagiku-chan 1!" Himura proclaimed, sliding off the side and onto the floor, walking towards the two girls.

"I couldn't even follow you." Hinagiku said, forcing down the bitterness of her crushing defeat. Elena grinned.

"Good, I'm not out of practice then."

"Okay then that settles it. Hinagiku-chan's staying here for the night." Himura called, leaping off the stage and walking forwards to join the two girls.

"What are we going to do about tomorrow though? We can't wonder about it in a huge group or it'd be suspicious; and there's no way anyone's carrying a weapon on campus tomorrow." Hinagiku said the last bit firmly and shot Himura a glare but he smiled disarmingly and her glare melted before the beaming grin.

"Hayate-kun can look after Nagi-chan well enough. I'll stay with you and we can do some looking around together. Himie's going to take the day off and do work elsewhere and when that's done he'll follow us around school, secretly of course." Elena explained, Himura nodded.

"I need to look at a few police records so I'll head over to the station tomorrow. Ellie, you and Hinagiku-chan need to look into the school council, some one let the murderer into that room and that means it was someone on the school council. I'll pop up at some point and see if I can identify them from the profiles." Himura moved his injured shoulder slightly and winced. "This thing will be mostly healed by tomorrow so I'll be back to normal by the afternoon. Don't ask about why it's that fast, it'll be too complicated for now." He said the last bit quickly, catching the curious looks.

"There's a lot you haven't explained yet. How you know what's happening to the other from long distances, how you knew someone had just died on the way up in the lift, your combat skills and how you healed Hinagiku-san's head injury when we first arrived at the office." Hayate said, the others looked at the English couple and they shrugged.

"I guess it's time we told you. Come, let's talk over some tea though." Himura said.

Ten minutes later they were sitting in the drawing room again as Himura and Elena finally revealed who they were, what they were doing there, their pasts, everything. Outside in the night four people watched the house from separate angles.

"Nothing we can do here for the night. Come back and follow them in the morning." Their leader called each and every one of them separately and they left by one to one to return in the morning.


	8. Chapter 7

**C**hapter 7

"Morning, Hina!" Hinagiku entered the room rubbing her eyes blearily. It had been a late night for them all and she was unused to not going to bed punctually. Elena was sitting on the sofa with a laptop balanced precariously on her legs.

"Morning… what are you doing, Ellie?" Hina wandered over and leaned over Elena so that she could see the laptop screen. There was a map of the world there with the land shown by light blue, the sea by black and turquoise gridlines criss-crossed across the screen. There were red dots as well as green dots all over the map.

"What's this?" Hinagiku asked with interest. Elena glanced up at her then turned her attention back to the screen. She zoomed in on a small island just above France.

"This shows where there are portals into our home world, those are the red dots. The green dots are our forces. I just got an update from HQ and I'm looking it over to see if there's anything they've missed. With Sir Bryan being so busy organising the standard militaries he sometimes overlooks things. Granted, that's a very rare occurrence but he always sends Himie the latest plans so that he can review them."

"So where's this?" Hina asked, pointing at the small island that had been enlarged to the entire screen.

"It's Jersey. A tiny island just off the coast of France; but it's part of the British Isles. There's a pretty small garrison here, all inhabitants; but the place can be made into an island fortress so it's quite important." Elena scrolled towards another small island. "This one's Guernsey. This one's the Isle of Wight." She said as she moved the screen north to another small island before resting on a much larger; but still small, piece of land.

"And the greatest place on Earth, Great Britain." Elena murmured fondly, checking over a few things and nodding. "As to be expected, the defence here is perfect. As our base of operations for the international organisation it's not really surprising." Elena powered the laptop down and shut the case down before slipping it into a laptop carrier bag which she slung over her shoulder.

"I still find it hard to believe everything you've said. I mean, sure you and Himura-kun are special but what you told us would make you practically superhuman and you don't seem quite so." Hinagiku said with a frown but Elena just giggled at her expression.

"Oh, don't you fret over it. Himie and I sealed our powers when we got here. We didn't want any more trouble than was needed. We can use them when we want; it'll just take a few seconds to break the seal." She explained, heading for the door. "I'm just going to drop this at my room, the others will be along soon I expect." Elena slipped out of the room leaving Hinagiku alone.

"Ah, Hinagiku-san, good morning." Hinagiku turned to find Hayate entering through a different door, pushing a breakfast trolley in front of him.

"Morning, Hayate-kun." She responded, taking a seat on the sofa. She was acutely aware that it was just her and Hayate in the room and although he didn't seem at all moved by the fact she was. They settled into an uncomfortable silence as Hayate concentrated on setting up the table while Hinagiku thought furiously of something to start a conversation. She was saved by the opening of the door as Himura entered.

"Ah, I'm not first up. Good to see I'm not the only early riser. Good morning you two." He said as he closed the door carefully behind him. His eyes darted from Hinagiku to Hayate and then to the girl's display he gave her a conspiratorial wink. Just how many people knew her 'secret?'

"Good morning, Himura-san. I have to get up early to wake Milady on time and to do the morning chores." Hayate explained, laying the last place up with expensive looking cutlery.

"And don't forget those exercises you do." Himura remarked, collapsing into a seat. He raised an eyebrow at the other boy's surprised expression. "Oh come on, I can judge whether someone works on their fitness or not." Himura crossed his legs in his usual style and leaned back.

"You won't get into the school if you're not in school uniform." Hinagiku said, noticing that Himura was dressed in more casual clothes. A pair of ordinary jeans, black Nike running trainers, a navy blue aertex with a blue long sleeved V-neck over the top, the collar of his aertex folded over the outside of the V-neck, the sleeves of the V-neck pushed up to his elbow. In a word: Smart-casual.

"Trust me; you won't notice I'm there even if you look for me." Himura said with a confident grin but Hinagiku was unimpressed.

"There are surveillance cameras at all the entrances, the fence is almost impossible to climb and even if you get to the top there are laser sensors half a foot above it; and let's not forget about all the bodyguards the school has. There's just no way. It'd be better if you went in your school uniform and then hid yourself." Himura shook his head, ignoring her advice.

"The security is impressive, yes; but I've evaded better. Just trust me on this one." He gave a winning smile and Hinagiku reluctantly gave in.

"Don't blame if you get caught." She muttered, desperate to not lose the argument entirely. Moments after their conversation ended the doors opened again. Nagi and Maria entered with Elena trailing behind.

They sat down to eat and an hour later they were in the hall, ready to leave.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Hinagiku said to Maria who shook her head and smiled.

"Not at all, do stop by more often."

"I might do that." Hinagiku replied, returning the smile. The group left and halfway down the track Hayate stopped.

"Wait, where's Himura-san?" He asked. Hinagiku and Nagi looked around, having only just noticed his absence.

"Don't worry, he's following. With these crooks following us we thought it better he didn't appear with us at all." Elena said before continuing on. Hinagiku jogged to catch up with the blonde girl and fell in stride next to her with the other two trailing a yard behind them.

"But I don't see him anywhere." Hinagiku whispered as if their pursuers might overhear her from such a distance.

"He did tell you that you wouldn't be able to see him." Elena replied with a knowing smile.

"Do you know where he is then? Without talking to him telepathically or anything." Hinagiku asked and was surprised when Elena shook her head.

"Nope. He can tell whenever someone's following him, even Sir Bryan who's the best of us; but I can't tell when he or Sir Bryan are hiding nearby without communicating with them."

"I'd be happier if I knew where he was. It feels like being stalked." Hinagiku muttered, making Elena chuckle at her.

"If we knew where he was we'd give him away by looking for him. That's why I'm not talking with him right now. He'll appear when he needs to."

* * *

"Now did anyone do the homework from two weeks ago? Oh, you don't need to worry about that Ellie-chan; you weren't here when I set it." Yukiji said, waving a hand at Elena before glowering at the class; but they all produced sheets of paper without fail so Yukiji made her way through the class gathering the homework.

"For Ellie-chan's sake can someone explain what the homework was about and then give a brief summary?" Yukiji asked and a few hands were raised. Nagi's hand remained resolutely down. Of course her work would be perfect but there was no way she'd contribute to the class.

"Okay then. You!" Yukiji said, pointing at a non-important member of the class who stood up and began to speak.

"Our homework was about the war between England and Scotland during the reign of King Edward in-"

"1296. The First War of Scottish Independence. King Edward I influenced the courts in Scotland over the successor to King Alexander III of Scotland and managed to have the weakest of the claimants to the throne chosen to be a puppet king in 1292. King John gave into many of Edward's demands and-" Elena had interrupted the boy who had stood to speak and the entire class stared completely lost for words as she outlined the events leading up to the war, the details of the war itself, the loss of the war followed by a Scottish resistance led by Sir William Wallace which eventually ended in Scottish victory.

When she finished she looked around at the silent class and smiled. The result was an uproar of questions, shouts and even screams. Yukiji finally brought the class under control and then demanded how Elena had known of the events.

"I read a few books here and there; I ended up knowing a fair bit of history." She said casually with a wave of her hand.

"Okay then." Yukiji said, not at all satisfied but unable to say further. "Our next topic is Arthur Wellesley. We'll be following his military career from when he was a colonel up to the end of Napoleonic War. Now, some background. Does anyone know anything about Arthur Wellesley?" Yukiji scanned the class and saw three hands. Those of Elena, Nagi and Hinagiku.

"Okay then, Sanzenin, you go first." She said, pointing her finger at Nagi as if she were a game show host.

"He was the first Duke of Wellington." She said simply, her point now said. Hinagiku's hand faltered before falling. Elena's hand; however, stayed up high.

"Hina that was your point? Okay then Ellie-chan, you go again." Yukiji said, waving a hand at Elena who recounted the entire military career of Arthur Wellesley from when he first joined the army up to the end of his career as a general and his position as Prime Minister twice over.

* * *

"I'm impressed Ellie. I thought I knew a lot but you knew more than my sister did." Hina remarked as they were walking down the hall. Hayate and Nagi had disappeared elsewhere as per usual leaving the two girls to walk alone to the Student Council Office.

"I try to learn as much as possible. Luckily facts just stick in my head. As for the Duke of Wellington, that's because he was probably the most successful general in all history, having never lost a battle against Napoleon or his marshals who conquered almost all of Europe, despite the French Historians' claims that he had superior numbers and equipment which is complete rubbish but you know how sore losers are." They stepped into the lift and the doors closed as the lift shot up towards the top floor.

"So do you know this much in other subjects?" Hinagiku asked but Ellie shook her head.

"Nope. I have a pretty advanced understanding of all subject areas but history is my speciality. It's easier to understand plus it's more interesting." They stepped out of the lift as the doors opened and Hinagiku pushed the door open. Instantly they knew something was wrong. Several boys and girls in school uniforms sat on the office's furniture with one boy sitting in Hinagiku's huge chair, his feet up on the desk.

"They're here boss." One of the boys said. The student in the desk opened one eye to study the two girls then swung his feet off the desk and stood up, spreading his hands.

"I believe we have some matters to discuss; but we should do so without outside influence." He clicked his fingers and a girl rushed forwards with a key in her hand. She locked the door and a boy walked up to Hinagiku, a pistol equipped with a silencer in his hand.

"Your key." He said woodenly and Hinagiku shakily handed him the key.

"Now, sit." The boss said, his smile was probably meant to be charming but was more reptilian and horrifying than comforting. Two boys sitting on the sofa the boss was gesturing at sprung off the seats and moved to the side of the room. The boss moved around the desk and sat on the sofa opposite the two girls.

"Now, here's the gist of it. You're going to become one of our new customers; and then you're going to turn a blind eye to our business or we withdraw your fix." His smile had vanished, a cold smile in its place. He snapped his fingers and one of the boys held out a syringe which the boss took.

"No, I will not. This all against school regulations and rules. You're not even allowed up here." Hinagiku tried dignified but her voice was quaking so much the effect was lost.

"I'm afraid I don't care about that. I get my way." The boss said. He signalled to two boys who appeared behind the girls and locked them both in full nelson's, arms under their armpits and the hands then meeting behind their necks, making their arms useless.

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll enjoy the effects." The boss said, the needle drawing closer. Hinagiku screamed only to have someone bash her on the head to silence her. Her sleeve was rolled up to the shoulder so that the vein in her arm was accessible.

There was a flash of light that made them all jump and turn to the source, the light already fading. Himura stood only metres away from them, holding a digital camera in his hand. He grinned and shook the device, pointing at it.

"Got the proof my friend. Time to give up."


	9. Chapter 8

**C**hapter 8

"Got the proof my friend. Time to give up."

"And why does that photo change anything? My buds here shoot you and destroy the photo and you get yourself killed for nothing." The boss said, leaning back with a cold smile hovering on his lips. Himura shrugged his shoulders.

"What makes you think your friends can shoot me?" Himura asked, sliding the camera into his jeans pocket.

"You have twelve guns trained on you right now. There's no way you can avoid being shot at some point." The boss met Himura's eyes, neither looking away.

"Actually, ten guns. Your two friends by the door won't be shooting anyone soon." Himura gestured at the two boys behind him with a jerk of his head. The boss glanced at them and shrugged.

"They look they can still fire a gun to me." He retorted, just as the boys fell forwards flat on their faces. The entire room stared in shock at the two unconscious boys. "How did you do that?" The boss demanded, his voice shaking a little. Himura let loose a quiet laugh.

"I hit the nerve bundle at the base of their spines when I came in. They've been paralysed from a few seconds before I started talking." Himura glanced at Elena and Hinagiku before his eyes returned to the boss who was recovering his posture.

"You can't hope to beat everyone else without the element of surprise." The boss glared at Himura, now seeing him as a threat.

Just then there was a click as the door opened.

"Ah, here you go Hayata-kun." A girl said, pushing the door open with Hayate and Nagi following. Guns swivelled to point at the trio. The girl, Miki, put her hands up, her face as unreadable as usual. Hayate stepped in front of Nagi protectively. Himura nodded slightly to Elena who grabbed the arms of the boy who had her in the banned wrestling move and threw him over her shoulder to crash head first into the sofa the boss sat on. It rocked back with the momentum of the boy and threw the boss backwards as the sofa toppled in the same direction.

Without a moment's pause Elena had stood up, twisted and her hand had flown like a knife to crash against the neck of the boy holding Hinagiku. He crumpled instantly, unable to breathe. The other mob boys began to turn around at the commotion, guns swerving.

By the door two more goons lay crumpled on the floor and Himura was upon a trio. He struck like lightning, his fist rocketing up into the chin of one and sending him flying back into a wall before collapsing on the floor. Himura had already spun around to whip his knee into the second goon's stomach, winding him and forcing him to the floor. The third goon was neutralised when Himura darted around him and his hand chopped like an axe onto the back of the goon's neck.

Elena had grabbed Hinagiku and dragged her to the floor as gunshots rang out across the room as the remaining goons opened fire on the Englishman. Hayate retreated out into the corridor with Nagi and Miki now that their distraction had been made.

Himura dodged around a pillar, bullets clanging off it and chipping off small chunks of marble. He stopped for a moment, disconcerting the goons before rushing out again, advancing on the last trio and dispatching them with terrifying ease. As the last boy dropped to the floor the boss stood up, pistol in hand aimed right at Himura.

"That's far enough, I think." He declared. Himura raised his hands into the air, stepping over a squirming goon who was still spreading out as his body went limp from lack of consciousness. "You're good. Oh, so very good."

"I swear those are the exact lines Tommy Lee Jones says in Under Siege to Steven Seagal before they end up fighting with combat knives." Himura remarked, completely composed.

"Oh? So what happens after that?" The boss asked with vague interest. Himura grinned.

"Tommy Lee Jones ends up with a knife in his head and then being pushed into a computer terminal." The boss pulled back the safety on the gun.

"Well I'm afraid films aren't like films." He said coldly, just as a sharp blow hit him in the back of the head and he toppled forwards. Elena stood behind him, her arm raised in the blow she had just executed.

"Well, I think we're done. We done?" Himura asked, poking a boy with the toe of his shoe. There was no response.

"That's a film line too you know." Elena turned around to help Hinagiku to her feet. The door creaked open and the trio outside stuck their heads into the room before moving in, assured it was now safe.

"How did you do that?" Hayate asked in amazement, staring around at the defeated mob.

"I told you, trained by the best." Himura grinned and dialled a number on his phone. "Yup, you can come upstairs now." He hung up and slid the phone back into his pocket.

"The police are coming from downstairs; they'll make all the arrests. We have the proof on camera so it's over." Elena explained to Hinagiku as the sound of the elevator's doors opening drifted into the room. Six or so armed policeman rushed into the room, firearms in front of them followed by the police officer who had questioned them at the start of the whole thing. The policemen looked around the room, jaws loose in amazement, firearms lowering.

"It looks like you cleared up, as promised." The officer said, holding a hand out to Himura who shook it.

"Wait, does that mean we were bait?" Hinagiku demanded furiously. Himura shrugged but Elena shook her head.

"Nope. Hina, they would've come after you anywhere. It just made more sense to prepare for it here where we had the best chances of winning." She laid a comforting hand on Hinagiku's shoulder and led her away from Himura and the police officer who were talking about sorting the case out. Himura handed him the camera and the officer nodded. The goons were handcuffed and dragged from the room until it was back to normal. The officer thanked them all and then left.

"This room is in a mess. Look at it!" Hinagiku complained, waving her arms at the pock marked walls and destroyed sofa. Elena glanced at Himura.

"You want to do it or shall I?" She asked, Himura made a suit yourself gesture so Elena stepped up to the sofa and clapped her hands together before touching it. The broken pieces picked themselves up, reforming and repairing until a brand new looking sofa stood in place, undamaged. She did the same and touched the floor. Blue light stretched from around her, spreading across the walls, fixing the areas behind them until the entire room revealed no marks of the fight.

"You really do have powers!" Nagi exclaimed excitedly, her eyes sparkling. The couple nodded and looked around the room at Elena's handiwork.

"So it's all over, we can go back to normal again?" Hinagiku asked.

"Yes. Now that everything's alright we won't stay much longer." Elena said. Himura had moved away to stare at a painting on the wall, intelligently staying out of the parting.

"What! But you only just got here Ellie, can't you stay longer?" Hinagiku asked, clasping Elena's hands in her own but the girl shook her head.

"Sorry Hina but we have to move on. We don't have much time left before we have to go home and fight again; but," she gave a rueful smile, "we're not going just yet."

"We're not sure where we're going yet. Although we have to move on, the question is where to?" Himura interjected to explain before turning back to the painting.

"So we'll get to work on that other problem." Elena whispered so that only Hinagiku could hear and winked. Hina blushed and began to mutter protests but Elena shook her head.

"No, no. No excuses!" She proclaimed.

"I think for now I'll head back to the mansion. As you said, I can't be seen around in these clothes." Himura said, gesturing at himself. He turned to go to the balcony before he glanced back at Hinagiku. "Incidentally, it was entertaining skipping around your security measures." He grinned before vaulting over the balcony.

"What's he doing? He'll die!" Hinagiku exclaimed but Elena held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"He's just swinging down to the floor below." She explained. She turned to Hayate and Nagi who had stood by through the entire exchanged and her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Nagi-chan, I need to talk to you for a moment. Come with me will you?" She asked, grabbing Nagi's hand and leading her from the room quickly. As she turned to close the door behind them she gave Hina a wink which made the girl flush red.

Miki had left with the police leaving Hayate and Hina alone.

"I wonder what Elena-san wants to speak about with milady?" Hayate said, more to himself than anyone else. Hina fidgeted with her fingers, trying to pluck up the courage to speak but not finding it. "Oh, by the way, Hinagiku-san, Himura-san told me this morning there was something you wanted to talk about?" Hina flushed brighter red; there was no way of backing out now. Her heart pumped furiously and her face burned as Hayate turned to look at her, his gaze as uncomprehending as usual.

"Hayate-kun… you know, there's something I've been meaning to say for a while."

* * *

"Oi, Elena! What's this about?" Nagi demanded as Elena took the younger girl to the lift.

"Nagi-chan, you like Hayate-kun, right?" Elena asked. The sudden question embarrassed and silenced the younger girl.

"H-how do you know?" She demanded. Elena winked.

"Not really a secret is it? Maria-san filled me in when I asked her about it. I think we need to talk about it, since you're a little confused."

"Confused?" Nagi questioned, quietened with curiosity now.

"Yes, Nagi-chan. You need to think about whether you love Hayate, or are in love with him."


	10. Chapter 9

**C**hapter 9

"What do you mean?" Nagi asked, confused.

"Nagi-chan, think about it. Do you love Hayate, see him as family or an older brother or are you in love with him?" Elena murmured quietly. Conflicting emotions crossed Nagi's face as she tried to work them out.

"I-I love Hayate; and I get angry whenever other girls like him… and I like to spent time with him and I look up to him but…." Nagi trailed off, unsure.

"But when you think of him, you don't get heady or excited, right? Well, a little because he's a boy but is there anything else there? Do you feel your heart beating harder when you see him, a fuzzy feeling in your chest?" Elena pressed, touching a hand to her own chest to add emphasis. Nagi shook her head slowly; and sadly as she came to realise.

"No… no. Hayate's my butler and I want us to be more; but not like that. At first I had those feelings; but then they stopped and I'm not sure now… Elena, what do you think?" Nagi looked to Elena in desperation. The older girl looked at that face, so young and innocent, unsure despite of her faster upbringing and apparent mature and cold mask.

"Nagi-chan, I think you want you and Hayate to be family. You don't have any siblings and you want someone to be there, to protect you. Someone you can spend time with, trust with everything." Elena touched a hand to Nagi's shoulder. "You're still learning, Nagi-chan. It's good to be unsure of your feelings and to work through them. That way when you find someone you do really fall in love with, you know what your own feelings are."

Nagi nodded uncertainly and Elena smiled softly. She bent down onto one knee so that she was at Nagi's level and made level eye contact.

"Just remember, Nagi-chan, there will always be others until you find that one person. When you find them, don't ever let them go. Hold onto them tight and love them all you can, keep a hold of those feelings and eventually you'll get through to that person." Nagi nodded again, more confidently although there were tears in her eyes. Elena stood up and turned to the lift door as their descent slowed.

"Elena, how did you find Himura?" Nagi asked curiously. Elena smiled sadly.

"I found him half dead in a hospital bed, I nursed him to health and we never let go of each other from that moment on." She said, recalling the moment that had changed her life.

"You and Himura have a lot of hardship, don't you?" Nagi asked as the doors opened and Elena nodded.

"Yes; and I'm afraid we're not done yet."

"What is it, Hinagiku-san?" Hayate asked again with a smile. Secretly inside him his heart was beating wildly and he couldn't control the blush coming to his cheeks, hoping against hope.

"I didn't want to say it at first. I told Ayumu that I'd support her; but I felt terrible from then on. I couldn't tell her, it felt like I was betraying her so I said nothing; but what Ellie said to me made me think so I've made up my mind." She looked up, her cheeks red but her eyes determined, although wavering with nervousness. She clasped her hands in front of her as she finally summed up the courage to say it.

"I love you, Hayate-kun."

* * *

Himura climbed the steps up to the mansion's front door and pushed it open. Maria entered the hall and greeted him with a smile.

"Ah, Himura-kun. You're back already?" She asked as Himura made his way to the foot of the stairs.

"Yeah. We managed to draw the goons out and the police arrested them, it's all over now so I came back." He stopped as he began to climb the stairs. "Oh; and things may change between Nagi-chan and Hayate from now on; but for the better."

"Oh?" Maria asked expectantly.

"Ellie's talking with Nagi-chan, helping her to sort out her feelings. She's at that age where she's still unsure of herself, confused by her feelings. Being surrounded by those older than herself probably just worsens that as she tries to unconsciously reach out to someone and mistake her own emotions."

"And how do you know all this? You're not much older than Nagi; but you seem to be able to understand her better than she does herself." Maria's tone wasn't angry but curious. Himura smiled sadly, just as Elena had to Nagi's questions.

"Ellie and I have been through a lot… we've learnt hard lessons all too quickly. Besides, Ellie was Nagi-chan's age herself once; although her situation would have been very different she can understand Nagi-chan's confusion." Himura turned to go and began to walk up the stairs.

"You look like you try to carry everything upon yourself, Himura-san." Maria remarked quietly. Himura didn't stop but his reply drifted down to her.

"It's what I do."

* * *

"Hinagiku-san…." Hayate could feel the blood pumping in his ears. His heart felt like it would explain. Hinagiku stood before him, her eyes hopeful and determined. He took a step forward, his body thinking on its own. His mind was trying to take control but he couldn't stop himself, his feelings taking over. His mouth opened and closed as the two parts of him struggled for control; but in the end his own feelings broke through.

"You don't have to answer. I just wanted to say it, not keep it pent up and secret." Hinagiku said, taking his indecisiveness for rejection.

"No, Hinagiku-san, I… I'm happy." Hinagiku spun around, her hope growing to bursting point. Hayate was staring right at her. "The truth is… I didn't want to say anything either. I thought milady might be angry and I don't want to hurt her; but now… now I'm not so sure that she will be angry or sad, I think perhaps she knew. Himura-san and Elena-san both knew; and I've only known them for a few days." Hinagiku's eyes opened wide. She hadn't expected this; she had expected the classic 'Can I think about it?' line.

"Hinagiku-san. I feel the same way for you." Hayate finally blurted out. Hinagiku took a step forwards, stopped, hesitated and then threw away her caution, her feelings were in overdrive, her emotions in control and she rushed forwards into Hayate's open arms.

* * *

School ended and the class picked up their bags, placing books inside and slinging them over shoulders before leaving the room chattering to their friends. Nagi was fidgeting, unsure of how to approach Hayate and she looked pleadingly at Elena who gave her a calm smile and tapped the butler on the shoulder.

"Hayate-kun, Nagi-chan would like to talk to you about something. I'll wait with Hina by the gates for you." With that Elena wandered over to Hinagiku and said something to her. They left the classroom together, heading towards the gate, Elena talking to Hinagiku who blushed at first but then the embarrassment faded. Hayate turned to Nagi; they were alone in the classroom.

"Milady, is something wrong?" Hayate asked and Nagi shook her head.

"Hayate! I want you to be my butler… but I want you to be my friend too. I know you have all those jobs as a butler to raise me properly and protect me but… can't you do that as… my… brother?" Nagi looked from side to side then down at the floor as she blurted the words out in phases. Hayate was stunned for a moment before he smiled.

"I'd like that, milady." He said. Nagi looked up, her eyes bright.

"Hayate! Oh; and you're allowed to get involved with other girls now, just not Maria!" Nagi said, as if she were giving a permission of law.

"Milady?" Hayate asked, confused, unsure what to make of this seemingly random revelation.

"You can be with Hinagiku, okay?" She blurted out loudly. Hayate reddened suddenly.

"H-how did you know, milady?" He asked, stunned again. Nagi shook her head.

"Hayate, everyone knows; and Elena didn't give talk to me for no reason." Nagi said, making her way to the door. "Come on, let's go. Hinagiku's waiting for you." She smiled, the first truly happy smile in a long time; and then she was through the door with Hayate rushing to catch up.

* * *

At the gates Hinagiku and Elena stood chatting and laughing as they waited for the mistress and her butler to arrive.

"I can't believe this all turned out how it did." Hinagiku said, turning serious. Elena shrugged and grinned.

"If you're not confident enough in yourself you'll never get happiness. Hina, you're very successful at everything; but you strike me as someone who's unsure about her own feelings. You need to think about them a bit more. See what happens when you let them speak for you this time?"

"Yes but I don't know what's going to happen now. I mean, we're not going out or anything so…." Hinagiku trailed off when she saw the mischievous grin on Elena's face.

"Oh; but didn't I tell you? Nagi-chan and I are going shopping for some things. You and Hayate-kun are heading back to the mansion together."

"What?!" Hinagiku demanded. She was confused, nervous and angry at being manipulated; but there was an underlying feeling of joy.

"Ah, here they are. Nagi-chan, come on, we've got shops to go to!" Elena called as she waved her hand to Nagi and Hayate. The two joined them at the gate, Hayate and Hinagiku settling into an awkward silence.

"Okay then, Nagi-chan and I are going shopping. You two go on ahead!" Elena said grabbing Nagi by the wrist and the two girls ran off, Elena almost dragging Nagi behind her to leave the awkward lovers by the gate.

"Why do I feel like we've been set up?" Hayate asked after they had stood for several moments staring after the disappearing dots in the distance.

"Probably because we have been." Hinagiku answered back. Then they suddenly seemed to take notice of each other and looked the other way, embarrassed.

"Well, shall we get going then?" Hayate asked and Hinagiku nodded her head a little too firmly.

"Yes, let's."

* * *

Back at the mansion one of the family limousines pulled up at the gates which opened automatically, allowing the vehicle to drive up the path to the front of the house. Elena and Nagi climbed out of the car and walked up the steps.

"Elena, is it a good idea to leave those two alone?" Nagi asked but Elena just laughed.

"Nothing bad will happen, Nagi-chan. The worst that will happen is nothing. Some people take their time; some people know what to do instinctively. We'll just have to wait and see how things work out."

They pushed through the door into the main hall. Himura appeared at the top of the stairs and glanced down to see them. He smiled tightly and held up a phone and pointed to it. Elena nodded that she understood and then the boy continued on across the landing and out of sight.

"What does he mean?" Nagi asked.

"He means that we have to go soon."

* * *

"Hayate-kun… what are we going to do now?" Hinagiku finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. Hayate seemed shocked by the sudden noise even though it was only a quietly asked question.

"I-I don't know." He stopped and so did Hinagiku who turned around to face him. "I think perhaps the first step would be… will you go out with me?" He asked. Hinagiku was flustered; although in truth she had expected the question and had tried to brace herself for it.

"Y-yes, I will." She managed to respond and they both relaxed a little, this first hurdle cleared. They smiled at each other a little unsurely and continued on their way to the mansion. Somewhere along the way their hands began to drift closer to the other and then enclose, almost subconsciously. They made their way to the mansion, hand in hand.


	11. Epilogue

**E**pilogue

"When do you have to go?" Nagi asked. The English couple sat on the sofa opposite her. Maria stood to the side of Nagi's sofa as the younger girl sipped a cup of tea.

"We'll head off as soon as we've got more information, which should be tonight." Himura replied, resting his elbows on his knees and interlacing his fingers to provide a platform upon which to rest his chin.

"That's rather sudden." Maria remarked and the couple looked a little sad for a moment.

"It's the way things are right now. We have to move on as quickly as possible since time isn't on our side. When this is all over, we might be able to come and stay for longer." Elena looked to Himura for support but only half heartedly. There was something very fatalistic in his expression showing at her words but he hid it quickly.

Their conversation was interrupted by a buzz from the intercom and Maria left to answer it. The trio left in the room could hear her talking to Hayate and Hinagiku. She came back into the room and informed them that she was going to the hall to greet the couple and bring them up.

"You've changed my life a lot again." Nagi remarked, sipping her tea.

"We have that effect on people." Himura said with a lopsided grin. The doors opened and Maria led Hayate and Hinagiku into the room. The two looked a little less awkward than they had before.

"Why the sad looks?" Hinagiku asked immediately upon seeing the English couple's expressions.

"Himie got a call; we'll have to leave sometime tonight." Elena said quietly. Hinagiku and Hayate were both quiet.

"But you only just got here!" Hinagiku finally protested. Elena and Himura shrugged their shoulders.

"It's the way things always are. We travel from world to world, helping people where we go and then we have to leave again." Himura explained. He stood up and fastidiously brushed himself off despite there not being a speck of dirt upon him.

"Even so, why so soon?" Hayate asked, stepping up behind Hinagiku. Elena took that one.

"We have possibly a grand total of eleven days to visit all our target locations; we still have at least one definite and possibly as many as three more. Besides, it would be better if we could get these missions over so that we can return home and rest before the final battle." She looked at Himura who nodded, suddenly looking very tired.

"We've been doing this for nearly seven months with no break. I'd like to have a few days before we have to head into the battle most likely to kill us." He half heartedly joked with a weak smile.

"Why not rest here for a day and then go on?" Hayate asked.

"Our timeframe is our best predicted frame. The worst case scenario is that we'll have as few as four days to finish up; and I at least must be back at home for the battle, Elena is also vital to our forces so we must move on when we can." Himura sighed and Elena laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Himie doesn't just do this. He spends most nights going over the battle plans our strategists have come up with. He goes over ammunition stores, equipment, battle readiness on the battalions, and possible entry ways for the enemy. I don't think he's slept for a long time. This battle is for our very survival, if we lost then everyone dies. That means everyone we've met, everyone on every world will die. We can't afford to wait, we must go on."

"If it's so important that you move on then why did you come here to help us; and why have you stayed this long?" Hinagiku demanded. She was angry at herself for feeling sad for losing people she had barely met and yet felt were close to her.

"That leads us onto why we go from world to world. We can't fight alone. It's not just our enemies there, it will be everyone's. We need as much support from every world as possible, as such we try and protect the heroes and heroines on each world from our combined enemies who try to weaken us and then ask for their presence on the battlefield when it comes to it."

"There are no enemies here you wouldn't be able to handle easily. Most of them are just complete idiots." Nagi interrupted in her cold tone of voice.

"Yes; and we're not sure you're suited to the battlefield. None of you should have to go into such a situation, you should continue to live your happy lives; but we felt a disturbance here so we came and we helped you. Now that that's done, we have to go on, we can't waste time." Elena explained.

"Why haven't you gone on already, why wait until tonight then?" Hinagiku demanded. Some part of her told her that she was being too angry, letting her emotions have free reign. Elena just smiled as she recognised Hina's weaker side emerging.

"Because we may be soldiers; but we're still just a sixteen year old boy and a sixteen year old girl. We need short rests and we can't just leave friends behind without saying goodbye properly."

"Ellie…." Hina's anger melted away and tears came to her eyes. Ellie stepped forwards and hugged the girl.

"You think I'd just go without saying goodbye?" She asked quietly. Himura turned to Hayate and held his hand out.

"I hope you continue to look after Nagi-chan… and also Hina-chan." He said. Hayate took his hand and shook it.

"I will." Hayate said solemnly. Himura's gaze swerved to Maria who he smiled at.

"I'd ask him to look after you too; but somehow I suspect it'll be the reverse." Maria laughed at his understanding and Himura turned to the doors as Elena sat back down again.

"Where are you going, Himura-kun?" Hinagiku demanded. "Aren't you going to stay with the rest of us before you go?" She asked. Himura turned and his exhaustion showed again. He looked much older than he was.

"I haven't slept in nearly three weeks, Hina-chan. I have some work to get out of the way and I hope to get an hour's sleep before we head off again. I'll see you all later."

* * *

"Himura-kun suddenly looks a lot older." Maria said after Himura had left and Elena nodded, looking sadly down on the carpet.

"Himie has had a lot pressed upon him. He's been second in command for a war for our world's survival, for every world's survival for four years. He's been injured so many times and lost so many friends that he sometimes has trouble going on. Right now, the only person he thinks of family is Sir Bryan. His family was killed when he was out fighting. His parents and his younger sister."

"How can someone have so much hardship in their life and still smile like that?" Hinagiku asked, Elena shook her head, continuing as if she hadn't heard.

"When I first met Himie, he'd already lost his family and many of his friends had died when we broke out the resistance and forced the enemy back. I was a field medic at the time and our forces were returning from forcing back another strong raid into our world. All of the group would have died if it weren't for Himie. I was tasked with healing him but… there wasn't much hope for him. Most of the bones in his body were broken and he'd taken so many normally fatal wounds. Plus he just didn't seem to want to live anymore. Suddenly he started getting better and when he came around he seemed determined again. After that I've rarely seen him sad but it gets to him sometimes."

"He's the same age as us but he seems so much older." Hayate said, staring at the door as if Himura were still standing there.

"They say experience brings wisdom, not age. I think Himie's probably had more experience than most people could possibly live with; but he shoulders it all and goes on, refusing to give up. If it weren't for him and Sir Bryan, we'd have been wiped out long ago."

"But when you've won the battle he'll be able to forget it all and live normally, right?" Hinagiku asked. Elena stared into her lap.

"I'm scared that he won't have anything left after the war. He doesn't fight for vengeance; he fights to stop other people suffering like him. Once that's done I don't know what he'll do."

* * *

That evening the group were assembled in front of the house. Elena and Himura stood together with their bags slung over their shoulders, dressed in their Guardian uniforms complete with weapons this time. Himura wore a sword across his back while Elena's hung from her hip with a bow slung over her shoulder.

"You'll come back sometime, right?" Hinagiku asked Elena.

"As soon as we can." Elena promised. The two girls hugged. Himura nodded to them and smiled broadly. He looked replenished, his earlier exhaustion seemingly vanished.

"Once this is all over, maybe we can start being normal people. I'd like to spend that time with the many friends we've made over the years."

They waved to the mistress, the school council president, the maid and the butler and turned to step into mid air, vanishing from sight as if stepping through a doorway.

"They were here for four days and they changed so much." Hinagiku said after they had gone.

"Yeah." Nagi agreed.

"I'm sure we'll see them again." Maria said, turning to head back into the mansion.

"I'm glad they came, they helped us in more than one way." Hayate said, glancing at Hinagiku and Nagi. Nagi nodded and headed back in with Maria leaving the new couple outside staring down the empty drive.

"Hayate-kun, do you think we will see them again?" Hinagiku asked quietly, hugging Hayate. Hayate wrapped his arms around Hinagiku who had been so distressed lately that her weaker side kept coming through.

"I'm sure we will."


End file.
